Railroad Forums 

Discussion relating to the operations of MTA MetroNorth Railroad including west of Hudson operations and discussion of CtDOT sponsored rail operations such as Shore Line East and the Springfield to New Haven Hartford Line

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, nomis, FL9AC, Jeff Smith

 #1497098  by gregorygrice
 
DutchRailnut wrote:why would Amtrak add more cars without a contract asking and paying for those cars ?
There is something in the old contract that mentions lengthening trains if the whole train is being fully utilized.
 #1497108  by lordsigma12345
 
Traingeek3629 wrote:"One Ticket, Any Train" Except on 2 of the busiest trains on the schedule. Add more cars, Amtrak!
It's still one ticket any train. There is just a cap on Amtrak reservations for these two. After one car's worth of Amtrak tickets are sold it will go "Sold Out" in Amtrak's system, which will save the other car for CTrail passengers. Not ideal but it should resolve the problem of leaving CTrail passengers on the platform for the near future.... (Amtrak passengers booking their trip will know in advance these trains are sold out.) I still think they should go for the MARC cars that are compatible with Amtrak's equipment as a more long term answer.
 #1497185  by GirlOnTheTrain
 
I know Connecticut is broke but how hard is it to pay Amtrak to slap an extra car on a shuttle consist? If they don't want to pay, then Amtrak should quit honoring CTRail tickets. Why should they have to inconvenience THEIR passengers at the expense of the state who doesn't want to cough up for the increased strain they're putting on a train that used to be sufficient to run with two cars?
 #1497218  by Jeff Smith
 
Since CtDOT has longer consists, would it be possible to switch out the Amtrak shuttle frequencies for CTRail runs in the schedule? Do the equipment turns allow for that? I know that would affect connections to Regionals.
 #1497234  by DutchRailnut
 
in that there lays problem of two operating companies , how much leeway is there for Amtrak to operate CTRail sets vs new company being allowed to run Amtrak train sets.
 #1497245  by Jeff Smith
 
To clarify, I wasn’t suggesting that they switch crews; I was suggesting they make that particular train a CTRail frequency, e.g. train number in the schedule (i.e. no longer a shuttle) and give Amtrak one of the CTRail frequencies that doesn’t need an extra car.

I’m sure the private contractors wouldn’t run Amtrak equipment for union rules; could an Amtrak crew run the MBB’s? They already operate SLE.

I questioned using two operators on the line, but it works in Jersey I suppose.
 #1497286  by gregorygrice
 
Before the service was started Amtrak had first dibs on time slots. New company picked up the rest. Each company is responsible for providing service, per the contract, for their time slots. So whatever slots Amtrak picked is Amtrak's responsibility and whatever slots New Company has is their responsibility.
 #1497292  by lordsigma12345
 
What gregorygrice said. Amtrak makes the most money off this line from passengers connecting to Northeast Regional trains (and now a few Acela connections.) Many of the Times were pre-exiting runs and they picked the new ones based on the times that had a good connection in NHV. And they have lent CTrail equipment to Amtrak during a couple peak times and when there has been Amtrak equipment out of service. However they have received passenger complaints from Amtrak connecting passengers (their most lucrative customers on the line) when they end up on commuter equipment so I think they try to avoid it as much as possible.
 #1497381  by lordsigma12345
 
I Don’t believe so. I believe as more equipment is available the goal is to add additional ctrail train times which would reduce the reliance on the Amtrak runs for commuters. But remember that there are Amtrak customers too and the Amtrak runs provide guaranteed connections at NHV.
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