Hartford Line CtDOT New Haven-Springfield - NHHS (Before Launch of Service)

[BostonUrbEx]

Has the wye been fully rebuilt and completed in Berlin? Does anyone know what Pan Am had in mind when looking to have this wye rebuilt? I can't imagine there's much benefit in it at all, unless they have something in mind.

[lordsigma12345]

Was talking about the Springfield wye. My first post in the string was about Berlin but then my second two were about the high level platform in Springfield (which hasnt yet been built.) Sorry for confusion.

[Rockingham Racer]

Will one platform suffice?

It should. The new elevated platform will be an island platform serving both tracks 4 and 6 so they get two for the price of one. Plus track 8 will remain in use for overflow (but still with a low level platform.)

What isnt clear yet is Amtrak's full scope of track work. If they made an interconnection between the tracks west of the station they could speed up operations for whatever trains end up running on the knowledge corridor as they could then use the north leg of the wye to access the CT river line and not have to make the backup move that the Vermonter has to make. They could simply change between locomotive and cab car at the platform. Such an interconnection would also allow the Lake Shore to exit the CSX main line and use the new high level platform and then continue on and re-enter the CSX tracks on the opposite side of the station. I guess we'll see if they do that.

I would imagine that whatever train runs the knowledge corridor will always operate with the locomotive facing south so that they can always get back to Springfield in the event of a cab car problem.

I am puzzled by all this. I looked at Google Maps, and it shows there is are wye on the northeast as well as the southeast quadrants of the diamond, west of the station. It also shows a crossover between one [but only one]of the Hartford Line tracks to get trains to the track nearest the station [don't know the number]. So why doesn't a train destined for the Knowledge Corridor arrive from the south using the southeast leg of the wye, and simply reverse directions and use the northeast quadrant to access Pan Am's Conn River Line [Knowlege Corridor]?
The only reason I can come with is the backup move south onto the Hartford Line with a subsequent move north over the diamond to Pan Am keeps the orientation of the train moving forward north of Springfield.

[daybeers]

Maybe this map will clear some things up for people.

[Allouette]

The only reason I can come with is the backup move south onto the Hartford Line with a subsequent move north over the diamond to Pan Am keeps the orientation of the train moving forward north of Springfield.

Exactly. The Eastbound (northbound) Vermonter enters the station on the high numbered tracks, backs out and heads north across the diamond. The Westbound (southbound) train crosses the diamond and backs in. Amtrak can, and does, turn other trains using the diamond.

Before the ex-B&M was upgraded the Vermonter ran via Palmer on the CSX Boston line and did not back in or out. For a brief period in 1995 after the Vermonter was inaugurated it arrived from Palmer cab car first, ran around the north Wye leg, crossed the diamond and backed in, so the locomotive could lead south of Springfield.

[lordsigma12345]

They can certainly do nothing and just do it the way the Vermonter does it currently - my suggestion was merely that if they interconnected the tracks west of the station the northbound trains could enter the station on the southern leg of the wye, perform the stop, then reverse direction across the interconnection and proceed along the northern leg of the wye to the Pan Am Conn River line - exactly the reverse operation for northbound. With the current setup without that connection they would have to do exactly as the Vermonter does - reverse direction at the platform back tracking down the south wye leg and then reverse directions again to cross the diamond. With an interconnection it would eliminate the second change of direction with the added benefit of allowing the Lake Shore to use the new platform (which would make it so no passengers have to cross tracks when boarding or unloading from trains as they do now.) The full wye is used now daily for turning the Northeast Regional through trains that terminate at Springfield around - twice on Friday and Saturday nights. The turnaround operation requires two backup moves.

[nomis]

Yet, one of the many reasons of moving to the knowledge corridor stated was to remove a cab-car / locomotive (depending on season) and have nearly all seats positioned for forward movement. The quick backup move through Spring doesn’t need to be reinvented.

[BostonUrbEx]

Has the wye been fully rebuilt and completed in Berlin? Does anyone know what Pan Am had in mind when looking to have this wye rebuilt? I can't imagine there's much benefit in it at all, unless they have something in mind.

Was talking about the Springfield wye. My first post in the string was about Berlin but then my second two were about the high level platform in Springfield (which hasnt yet been built.) Sorry for confusion.

I wasn't referencing any particular post, I was just looking for an update and/or explanation on the Berlin wye if anyone had one.

[lordsigma12345]

Yet, one of the many reasons of moving to the knowledge corridor stated was to remove a cab-car / locomotive (depending on season) and have nearly all seats positioned for forward movement. The quick backup move through Spring doesn’t need to be reinvented.

Where would they turn around up north? I am not talking about modifying the Vermonter's backup move - it makes sense to keep the seats facing forward on it. I am talking about whatever Springfield-Greenfield service gets added (whether Shuttles or CTrail Hartford Line lines) to the Knowledge Corridor. Would simplify whichever trains get added (which operate with a cab car anyway.) I didn't think there was anywhere on the north end of that potential corridor that they'd be able to turn around.

[lordsigma12345]

More news - in addition to agreeing to take the actual Hartford Line tickets, Amtrak has lowered its actual SPG-NHV fares for the Shuttles and Northeast Regional through trains to match the Hartford Line. The new fares appear to apply only to trips between stations in the Hartford Line corridor - intercity fares from Hartford line stations to Northeast Corridor destinations beyond NHV remain the same. The Amtrak fare change will be effective on the launch date of Hartford Line service on June 16th. With this new change if commuters buy the ticket from Amtrak they won't get screwed by a higher rate. This also takes care of Windsor and Windsor Locks folks who will not have access to CTrail ticket machines - if boarding a CTrail they will be able to buy a ticket aboard penalty free and if boarding an Amtrak they can buy a ticket online with the Amtrak app.

[nomis]

Why would there be any difference in the operationally of a Shuttle/CDOT set in the moves they do in Springfield? Operationally, you are doing the "hard" work on the Amtrak side of things, and you have multiple tracks to choose from performing a backup move through Spring Interlocking. There are times in the middle of the day recently that Amtrak wanted to turn a Shuttle set (for whatever reason) but was unable to do so because of either conflicts on the CSX side or the Conn River Line Typically Track 11 to the north leg of the wye has been OOS while the sun is up. No reason for the engineer to swap ends twice to do the move, when a conductor can do the same as the Vermonter and direct the move from other than the leading end.

[lordsigma12345]

There wouldn’t be but with a connection between the Amtrak and CSX side a northbound shuttle or ctrail train could pull into tracks 4/6/8 as they do now, then switch directions over the interconnection to CSX to the north leg of the wye and just keep going instead of backtracking down and then switching directions again to cross the diamond. Although I see what your saying about traffic maybe CSX would be opposed to such a connection. As I said there would also be the benefit of the Lake Shore being able to use the platforms on the Amtrak side eliminating passengers from having to cross any tracks for boarding. But I guess in the end if they ever add Boston-Springfield service they’d probably improve the track 1 or 2 platform so maybe wouldn’t be worth the expense and the new platform C will eliminate track crossing for all other trains.

[lordsigma12345]

More news - in addition to agreeing to take the actual Hartford Line tickets, Amtrak has lowered its actual SPG-NHV fares for the Shuttles and Northeast Regional through trains to match the Hartford Line. The new fares appear to apply only to trips between stations in the Hartford Line corridor - intercity fares from Hartford line stations to Northeast Corridor destinations beyond NHV remain the same. The Amtrak fare change will be effective on the launch date of Hartford Line service on June 16th. With this new change if commuters buy the ticket from Amtrak they won't get screwed by a higher rate. This also takes care of Windsor and Windsor Locks folks who will not have access to CTrail ticket machines - if boarding a CTrail they will be able to buy a ticket aboard penalty free and if boarding an Amtrak they can buy a ticket online with the Amtrak app.

Source for this info:
Facebook post by NHHS program: New Haven-Hartford-Springfield Rail Program CTDOT has received confirmation that Amtrak will accept Hartford Line tickets onboard all Amtrak trains between New Haven and Springfield upon service launch, with the exception of the Vermonter. Tickets sold by Amtrak will be at Amtrak fare rates. Tickets at Hartford Line fare rates will only be sold at TVMs at Hartford Line stations, except for Windsor and Windsor Locks, and on board CTrail Hartford Line trains. At the Meriden Ribbon Cutting Event, it was announced that Amtrak would be lowering one-way fares to match Hartford Line fares. Additional details will be forthcoming.
and Amtrak tickets are now available at their website at Hartford Line rates beginning June 16 - this can be seen by doing a ticket lookup beginning the date. If you do a Hartford - New Haven trip you'll see that you get a special commuter rate but if you do a Hartford - NYP trip you will see that fares remain the same bucket based fares as present. It appears upon inspection of how the fare is presented that the special commuter fares will also not be subject to fare buckets but obviously we will need to see confirmation on that.

I wish they would update their website to reflect some of the information they've provided over Facebook and Twitter. The website still says that they are "working to offer ticket sharing."

[lordsigma12345]

Hard to believe it’s finally starting next month. Have been seeing tons of test trains with the SLE equipment over the last couple weeks.

For those that live in the area and are thinking of riding the free trains on the service’s opening weekend, the new CTrail fares will be available on Amtrak that day if you need to ride Amtrak on your return leg (which I will have to due to timing.)

[njtmnrrbuff]

Yes, it's so hard to believe that it's almost a month since the service will be starting up. Sadly, I won't be able to take advantage of the free rides. I am definately planning on riding and railfanning the service the end of June or early July. I like it that people who will be using Amtrak's shuttle service to travel anywhere on the Springfield Line will be able to pay the same fares as those people using the Ctrail trains. Whichever day I plan to do my trip to the SPG Line, I will take either 417 or 467 back to NHV and then switch to Metro North.