Amtrak to get competition in Newark, DE

I got word from a very reliable source on Friday that Double Happiness will be expanding its operations in Delaware. Dover should be added within a matter of weeks(they just purchased the bus for it), but that's not the big one. I was told that, at the earliest, this summer, Double Happiness will be running to Newark, DE. They're looking at the football stadium parking lot as the stop location, which is not too far from the Amtrak station. Amtrak recently boosted service on Thu/Fri to 2 trains northbound and Sun to 2 trains southbound. I know the 2nd northbound on Fridays(the newly added train) has been wildly successful from what I've witnessed, since most students are still in class when the first train leaves. The University of Delaware students are the vast majority of the passenger make up at Newark, DE. Being students, it's very likely that once Double Happiness begins service there, Amtrak will loose a very large percentage of its ridership at that station.

While it certainly does make things better for students, I'm not going to like the results it has for Amtrak. I'm going to try to take the train a little more often now. The 2nd train leaves at the exact time I would need it to so I can get home and sleep an hour before work Friday nights.

Double Happiness is a bus line operating between NY and multiple cities, including Wilmington, DE and Baltimore, MD. The Newark service will be to New York, whose metro area is where the majority of out of state UD students are from. However, Newark will more than likely be a part of the current service to Baltimore. That said, Amtrak may also loose UD<->Baltimore riders.

http://www.aabus.com/

Looks like they are on top of their game. When did Maryland annex Wilmington? I already didn't like Maryland that much (compared to PA), now they've gone and taken property from the worst state in the union?

Anyone who knows me knows I loath Delaware, for personal reason. If you must know, PM me.

If you haven't caught on, the website incorrectly lists Wilmington as being in MD. These buses are bound to make a resurgence as gas prices lower. But in time, when they go back, they will fall out. Amtrak will remain constant.

One potential crutch for Amtrak could be some of these buses it says they offer wi-fi. This could be competitor to Amtrak.

gprimr1 wrote:http://www.aabus.com/

The website incorrectly lists Wilmington as being in MD. These buses are bound to make a resurgence as gas prices lower. But in time, when they go back, they will fall out. Amtrak will remain constant.

One potential crutch for Amtrak could be some of these buses it says they offer wi-fi. This could be competitor to Amtrak.

I doubt "Double Happiness" will have any significant effect on Amtrak. Chinatown buses and low fare buses are very common in all states (+DC) in the Northeast. In Montgomery County, where I live, you can get lots of buses from Rockville, Silver Spring etc. Granted about half of them stop in DC on their way to Phillie, NY, or Bos.

realtype wrote: For the record, Maryland is the best state in the union. Virginia and WV, not DE, are MD's worst neighbours IMHO. Maryland has probably given more land than any other EC state. George Washington stole MD's land for DC, Deleware was taken from Lord Calvert by the Penns, and Southern PA (including Philadelphia) was also taken from Maryland. Imagine if Philadelphia, DC, and Wilmington were all part of Maryland. Undoubtedly we'd be the most populous state.

yeah right. Philly did well as part of PENNsylvania, not Maryland. Pennsylvania didn't steel anything, inaccurate maps led to a border war. Perhaps PA shoudl have taken all of Maryland. Nonetheless, you ahve littlel to whien about, Maryland's economy is based on the largesse that the federl government doles out to Maryland in the form of overpaid agencies, consultants, and military spending. (not that it would be a bad thing to return DC to MD).

At any rate, I wanted to note that one of the chinatown bus companeis has recently added a non-stop bus to State college, PA from Philly. They are definitely filling in for Amtrak which is content to leave enormous parts fo the travel market un-or underserved. The reason these services usually don't iompact Amtrak is that Amtrak either chooses not to serve well (one train a day to state college area with no connecting bus service) or price out most of the market (NEC).

I doubt "Double Happiness" will have any significant effect on Amtrak. Chinatown buses and low fare buses are very common in all states (+DC) in the Northeast. In Montgomery County, where I live, you can get lots of buses from Rockville, Silver Spring etc. Granted about half of them stop in DC on their way to Phillie, NY, or Bos.[/quote]

Rail passenger service to Happy Valley has been long gone - or at least longer than yours truly has been following railroad industry affairs. 1950-60 vintage PRR Form 1's in my collection all show connecting bus Lewistown-State College via Boalsburg Auto Bus Line.

Now that the Nittany Lions are off to THE BOWL, I wonder from where the student charter flights will depart. Somehow, I think the last Big Ten student to travel to the Rose Bowl by rail was yours truly for the Jan 1, 1964 game - Illinois v. Wash State.

The itinerary was Golden State Chi-El Paso; Sunset Pass- LA, return to Chi on the City (two sections, Coach and Pullman) .

The University of Maryland-College Park is also directly competing with Amtrak by offering a large number of free shuttles for students (about 90% of out-of-staters come from NJ and NY) to Metropark, NJ Amtrak station directly from campus, which allows New Yorkers to take NJT directly to Penn station downtown, and elsewhere. As a new service they are also offering free bus shuttles to BWI airport. They used to shuttle students to New Carrollton to take the train to BWI but students complained about the hassle, so they now go directly to the terminal.

The only reason I feel like this could affect Amtrak is b/c Amtrak runs here only twice a day Thu/Fri to NY and Sun southbound. The vast majority of the ridership at this station is UD students, who are inclined to go by the cheapest means possible as long as it's convenient.

I thought this thread meant that some kind of train was going to compete with AMTK on the old B&O

Amtrak clearly prices students out. IF they wanted, they could run another level of service that is affordable to students. In some ways they are competing, in some ways they are really making up for Amtrak's shortcomings. I've said it many times, Amtrak essentially forgoes an enormous part of the market.
btw-I forgot how big PA should have been.

Moderator's Note:

Housekeeping done. OT posts and OT portions of posts removed.

The subject is head to head competition with Amtrak by a bus line in the mid-Atlantic States. Let's stay on topic, please.

Thankyou Mr. Perkowski.

IMHO this will not really effect Amtrak as they do not stop enough trains there to begin with.

Kaback9 wrote:Thankyou Mr. Perkowski.

IMHO this will not really effect Amtrak as they do not stop enough trains there to begin with.

I wonder if Amtrak really wants to stop at Newark, DE at all or are they just persuaded to do so?

MudLake wrote:

Kaback9 wrote:Thankyou Mr. Perkowski.

IMHO this will not really effect Amtrak as they do not stop enough trains there to begin with.

I wonder if Amtrak really wants to stop at Newark, DE at all or are they just persuaded to do so?

Thats a good point. I think it has to do with UDEL.

I'm not saying it will affect Amtrak as a whole, but more so their willingness to stop at Newark.