Railroad Forums 

  • Amtrak Empire Service (New York State)

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1479604  by ThirdRail7
 
Click on the link to see a brief video and pictures of the movable portion of the Spuyten Duyvil bridge being lifted and moved by the worlds largest floating crane.



Video: Amtrak uses massive crane to move railroad bridge
NEW YORK — Amtrak workers used one of the world's largest floating cranes Thursday to move the bridge that provides train access between upstate New York and New York Penn Station.

The passenger railroad service is upgrading the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge, which is a railroad swing bridge that spans the Spuyten Duyvil Creek between Manhattan and the Bronx.
 #1479612  by DutchRailnut
 
slow connection? video is month old :-)
 #1479709  by Ridgefielder
 
ryanov wrote:I believe the S shuttle train is slightly more direct when making such a move.

During many times of day, you'll be moving far more slowly on a bus.
Actually the 7 is slightly more direct, depending on where you arrive in Grand Central.

On the GCT end, the Shuttle platforms stretch between Madison and Vanderbilt Ave's, under 42nd St. You enter from the southwest corner of the main concourse. At the Times Square end, the platforms are on a curve from 42nd to 43rd, and end just short of Broadway. It's ~250 foot walk from there to the 1/2/3 platforms under 7th Ave.

The best entrance to the 7, on the other hand, is from the southeast corner of the concourse. It's a level below the 4/5/6 platforms on Lexington Ave. At the Times Square end, the 7 is directly below the 1/2/3 platforms, on the alignment of 41st St.

In my experience the 7 also tends to be less crowded between GCT and Times Square, and it runs with standard 10 car trains, rather than the 3 car trains of the shuttle.

The bus would probably be slower than walking at most times of a weekday.
 #1479772  by BAR
 
Ridgefielder,

I agree with you and I did descend to the #7 Train at the Southeast corner of the concourse, an entrance I was familiar with from my days of living in New York. I always preferred the #7 to the S to get from GCT to Times Square and the subway connections there. However the advisory Amtrak provided does recommend the S.

My experience with the shuttle bus that Amtrak used to provide was always on Saturdays and it made good time between NYP and GCT. It also made dealing with luggage much easier.

BAR
 #1480079  by SouthernRailway
 
Why does Amtrak need to do its "line up and wait" boarding procedures for Empire Service (and other Grand Central-based) trains?

I took the Ethan Allen Express from Grand Central, and an Amtrak staff member blocked people from boarding and kept yelling at people to direct them to a specific car based on where they were going.

I figure that Amtrak wants to seat people by destination so that they can be shepherded off the train easily. I also figure that Amtrak wants to be sure that blocks of seats are available for people getting on at various stations down the line.

Why doesn't Amtrak just consider that its passengers are usually adults, and let people be responsible for following station announcements and getting off at the right station? And if a large bock of seats is needed for groups getting on at stations down the line, just have those seats be at the other end of the train from where people are boarding at Grand Central and block the seats off with a sign or something. Then let people board at Grand Central when they want, and without being herded around and yelled at.

Amtrak just always seems to make boarding at large stations as miserable as possible, and there are better ways.
 #1480120  by SouthernRailway
 
CHTT1 wrote:You seem to put a lot of faith in people actually following directions.
If people miss their stops, too bad. Surely that's a rare occurrence anyhow, and not worth treating Amtrak passengers like cattle during boarding.

If people sit in a car that's reserved for people getting on at a later stop, then they can be forced to move. Can't Amtrak close off cars like Metro-North and NJ Transit do, to avoid this?

None of these is worth making a huge crowd of people be herded like cattle and screamed at in 90 degree heat on the Grand Central platforms. Totally ridiculous and customer-unfriendly.
 #1480131  by Ridgefielder
 
SouthernRailway wrote:Why does Amtrak need to do its "line up and wait" boarding procedures for Empire Service (and other Grand Central-based) trains?

I took the Ethan Allen Express from Grand Central, and an Amtrak staff member blocked people from boarding and kept yelling at people to direct them to a specific car based on where they were going.

I figure that Amtrak wants to seat people by destination so that they can be shepherded off the train easily. I also figure that Amtrak wants to be sure that blocks of seats are available for people getting on at various stations down the line.

Why doesn't Amtrak just consider that its passengers are usually adults, and let people be responsible for following station announcements and getting off at the right station? And if a large bock of seats is needed for groups getting on at stations down the line, just have those seats be at the other end of the train from where people are boarding at Grand Central and block the seats off with a sign or something. Then let people board at Grand Central when they want, and without being herded around and yelled at.

Amtrak just always seems to make boarding at large stations as miserable as possible, and there are better ways.
Can't you just walk in another gate and go around them?
 #1480148  by SouthernRailway
 
Ridgefielder wrote: Can't you just walk in another gate and go around them?
Monday-Friday, probably. This was on a weekend, though, so the north entrances were closed.

The Amtrak staff member was about 2 cars down the platform (if you're coming from the main part of Grand Central), so nobody could get around the person.
 #1480150  by DutchRailnut
 
Amtrak has always handled their trains like this, just imagine if people were to board with no check ??
MN commuters would play dumb just to get express ride to Yonkers or Croton .
 #1480152  by east point
 
DutchRailnut wrote:Amtrak has always handled their trains like this, just imagine if people were to board with no check ??
MN commuters would play dumb just to get express ride to Yonkers or Croton .

Yess have seen that too much. Too many persons try to beat the system unfortunately !
 #1480157  by SouthernRailway
 
DutchRailnut wrote:Amtrak has always handled their trains like this, just imagine if people were to board with no check ??
MN commuters would play dumb just to get express ride to Yonkers or Croton .
Anyone without a valid ticket would have to buy one on board; I saw a lady (who had an Amtrak reservation, but no ticket) buy a ticket for cash once on board.

I'm fine with having to show tickets when you board. That's a separate issue from being herded around and screamed at in the heat in order to get you to the car that Amtrak personnel wants you to sit in, and that's what I don't like.
 #1480167  by DutchRailnut
 
ok try airline no problem only one cabin to get in.
  • 1
  • 175
  • 176
  • 177
  • 178
  • 179
  • 204