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  • Binghamton NY - New York City NYC Passenger Rail Discussion

  • General discussion of passenger rail systems not otherwise covered in the specific forums in this category, including high speed rail.
General discussion of passenger rail systems not otherwise covered in the specific forums in this category, including high speed rail.

Moderators: mtuandrew, gprimr1

 #703959  by ANDY117
 
As an employee at the Binghamton Airport, when did we lose service? I was just up there for 11 hours today working my a** off. The only thing we really lost was Delta 2 years ago, but now that they've bought Northwest they're back. US Airways still has I think 8 round trips to Philadelphia, United has 4 round trips to Washington DC-Dulles, and Delta (Northwest Airlink) has 2 round trips to Detroit. And as an aside, so far this year between the 2 airlines I work (United and Delta), we've had over 40,000 passengers plane and deplane, which is nothing to sneeze at. That's not including US Airways, which has had more. So to say Binghamton has lost service is frankly silly, and quite wrong. Ithaca is doing even better from what I hear, and so is Elmira. You can't beat the convenience of having 5 airports within an hour and a half to 2 hours of each other connecting to Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington, Newark, JFK, Chicago, Cincinnati, and all the other major eastern hubs with a train. I'm sorry, but it won't work.

Now before I get flamed for being anti-rail and pro airline, I'd love to see passenger service. Just not dedicated service between Binghamton and Syracuse or New York, it would have to extend and link the Southern Tier like it once did. If the economy stays in the tank, and gas prices go through the roof again, maybe it would be worth it.

As far as tilt trains go, have you seen the tracks around here lately? The only reason they would tilt is because they were going over a rail joint!

Otto, can we please kill this thread dead? This horse was put out of its misery for a reason!
 #703989  by BR&P
 
I guess the myth of Binghamton losing its air service was just another case of those obsessed with bringing back passenger rail dreaming up reasons which actually are not real. I usually enjoy a good debate but I think Andy's right. No matter how much logic from how many people, we keep coming up with far-fetched things like moving the ghettos from the cities to suburbia, and loss of airline service when apparently that's not even remotely accurate. There have been many topics locked up for no apparent reason - I'd say in this case we have pretty good reason!

Either that, or create a "fantasy railroading" like fantasy football, and move this thread to that new forum! :wink:
 #703995  by O-6-O
 
A couple of points while the patient still has some life, yes Noel the employees were Amtrak(based on the logo on their
shirts). Agent Skelly said Utica was never a large drop/pick up point for Amtrak. True enough today but in it's heyday it was a huge market. That's the point. The need for Hy Speed Rail in Utica/ Rome is/would be hard to justify on a promise of might's and maybe's. Someone direct me to a truly independent study that says otherwise.
 #704084  by northjerseybuff
 
Why lock it up. I know for a fact some news on this will be coming out soon. It will either kill the idea completely or it will happen. What is known is that amtrak IS doing a study. The naysayers can voice opinions. Maybe the study will justify their thoughts. Maybe not. We shall see. And until the study is released noone can say for sure if it will or won't happen and its all speculation.
 #704128  by Otto Vondrak
 
northjerseybuff wrote:Why lock it up. I know for a fact some news on this will be coming out soon.
News, real news, I welcome. The never-ending yes/no-I'm right/you're wrong debate is what's killing me.
 #704141  by PassRailSavesFuel
 
northjerseybuff wrote:Why lock it up. I know for a fact some news on this will be coming out soon. It will either kill the idea completely or it will happen. What is known is that amtrak IS doing a study. The naysayers can voice opinions. Maybe the study will justify their thoughts. Maybe not. We shall see. And until the study is released noone can say for sure if it will or won't happen and its all speculation.
I tried to let this one rest. But there sounds like there's sure too much air service for a dying area. (I'm glad it's not that far gone.)The coming megar mergers of the air industry will change this and drive the fares up. I didn't think Binghamton is that hopeless, neither do my friends who live in the area. But I do believe the airlines in a few years for the most part, be gone. Their industry is based on cheap oil. The issue for me as a customer who loves this area of New York is. There is NO train service, period. It doesn't have to be high speed service just HIGHER speed service. It's not that we spend alot on rail,we really spend nothing on it! That's why we have nothing. This doesn't make sense and it has to stop. Amtrak is very popular, trains sell out, some, months in advance. The Empire Corridor is focused on one market New York City. I don't think they even care about the west end. The Chicago train sells out because it has connections. The corridor trains don't have these connections.Watertown?Oswego?Ithaca?Cortland? The loss of connections is one of the things that killed the railroads when they ran the trains. I watched the business disappear myself as connecting trains came off. Forceing everyone to drive, and then saying everyone wants to drive, they don't. This issue is coming up because there are alot people like me. And we don't want our tax dollars spent just on highways anymore it's unfair. Driving is down, Wall Street expects a new wave of airline bankruptcys. Amtrak is breaking ridership records has been for 5 years now. I don't know where they put the people, must be on the corridor trains. Since the LSL has been selling out most of year for years.
 #704160  by northjerseybuff
 
Well real news it is..from April..A study IS ongoing..maybe lock it for now and open it when the study is done?
Binghamton, N.Y., just might be the key to restoring passenger rail service between the Poconos and suburban New York City.

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.d ... 1/NEWS0908
 #766045  by kemay59
 
Return of the thread that wouldn't die! Binghamton Amtrak study update.

"High Speed Railway Support," WBNG-TV, January 29, 2010

http://www.wbng.com/news/local/83072862.html

"Amtrak is currently doing a study, which looks at how feasible it would be to connect Binghamton to surrounding cities by high speed rail. That study is set to be released sometime in the next two months."
 #766053  by kemay59
 
BR&P wrote:I guess the myth of Binghamton losing its air service was just another case of those obsessed with bringing back passenger rail dreaming up reasons which actually are not real. I usually enjoy a good debate but I think Andy's right. No matter how much logic from how many people, we keep coming up with far-fetched things like moving the ghettos from the cities to suburbia, and loss of airline service when apparently that's not even remotely accurate. There have been many topics locked up for no apparent reason - I'd say in this case we have pretty good reason!

Either that, or create a "fantasy railroading" like fantasy football, and move this thread to that new forum! :wink:
FACT CHECK:

Direct air service between Binghamton and New York City was discontinued by Delta in 2007. No other airline has offered direct flights from Binghamton to any of the New York City metro area airports since then. See http://www.flybgm.com/flights/airlines.
 #766150  by lvrr325
 
The most amusing thing about "high speed rail" is those "high" speeds wind up being about the same as the faster through trains ran in the '30s. Should we bring back a DL&W Pocono to pull these trains, too?
 #766306  by hrfcarl
 
Not sure if this was asked already and considering this thread is SOOOO many pages long now I do not have time to check, so here goes:

Can an Amtrak train depart NYP and get on the Port Jervis line? IF YES, what would take to divert 1 Empire Service up the Port Jervis branch, continue along the Southern Tier to Binghamton, then up thru Cortland to Syracuse and terminating in Buffalo/Niagara? Of course there should 1 reverse train as well. This would not be a commuter service, maybe call it the Empire College Service. A real test to see if such service is really needed/wanted.

Thanks.
 #766308  by SemperFidelis
 
As far as I know, no, an Amtrak train cannot depart NY Penn and divert to the Southern Tier. The only diversion an Amtrak train could make would be at the "Kearny Connection" where Midtown Direct trains presently exit the NEC. From there, a route could be rebuilt (I think it's called the Kingsland Industrial) to connect to the Southern Tier route. I'm not sure if the track is laid out in such a way as to allow that to happen.

Don't think it'll ever happen, but it physically could.

I'd think you'll end up seeing it (if ever) coming up through Scranton.
 #766325  by Noel Weaver
 
This stuff has been discussed, discussed and discussed some more. If this was a practical rail route the discussion would
make sense but it is a slow speed light density freight route with a questionable future west of Port Jervis at best.
As for taking one train off its present route to run through this mess would make even less sense, Albany is one of the top
stations on the entire Amtrak system and to reduce service there even by one train to run through a dog patch area would '
be ridiculous and will not happen.
Noel Weaver
 #766397  by goodnightjohnwayne
 
hrfcarl wrote:Not sure if this was asked already and considering this thread is SOOOO many pages long now I do not have time to check, so here goes:

Can an Amtrak train depart NYP and get on the Port Jervis line? IF YES, what would take to divert 1 Empire Service up the Port Jervis branch, continue along the Southern Tier to Binghamton, then up thru Cortland to Syracuse and terminating in Buffalo/Niagara? Of course there should 1 reverse train as well. This would not be a commuter service, maybe call it the Empire College Service. A real test to see if such service is really needed/wanted.

Thanks.
So you would cut out the Hudson and Mohawk Valley just to a run a train over the slowest, least populous route possible to Syracuse, NY? Now that would be a very long tedious trip aboard empty coaches. Of course, the reinstitution of passenger service on the old Erie Route is even less probable than the restoration of the Lackawana Cutoff and the return of service to Binghamton by way of Scranton. Looking at the map, the planners of the Erie did a remarkably good job of avoiding every major population center - it was a phenomenally poor route.

Of course, the only advantage of the old Erie mainline is that the tracks are extant, but that isn't saying very much. It would take tens, if not hundreds, of millions to upgrade this route for any potential passenger service beyond Port Jervis. Looking at the map, there's a very good reason why the commuter service terminates where it does: there's precious little population beyond Port Jervis.
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