Broken Flordia Connections from 50

Due to a Timetable coming out in Fall that will have the Eastbound Cardinal lose it's Southbound Connections with ALL FLORIDA TRAINS buy you still can take a BUS (YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) from Charlottsville to Richmond. New Times for the Star into DC is 2:05 and Meteror 6PM out of DC. But you can still do it from the Meteor and the Westbound Cardinal.

AmtrakFan

Well they also just lost this customer with the re-vamp of the New York - Florida bound trains. The last of the late night departures out of New York Penn is now history - Silver Meteor will depart NYP at 2:15 p.m. and arrive into Savannah at 5:00 a.m. (Charleston even earlier). Used this train quite often for business trips to Charleston and Savannah - schedule worked well. Now it's useless. I don't know how Amtrak plans on supporting the Meteor schedule with equipment, when the Meteor is often delayed waiting for inbound equipment (i.e. the Lakeshore Limited).

In my opinion, Amtrak has to look at their schedules to determine where
they can best serve their major end points and also most important how
their equipment turns and cycles will work out.
The loss of a connection between EB 50 and any Florida train is not very
important in my viewpoint. Train 50 likely is late much of the time so the
Florida train will not get stuck for it and passengers planning on making
this connection will be spared the problem when the connection is not
made.
I doubt if there is a big market for passenger travel between the EB 50
and the SB 97.
On lines with only one or two daily trains, not everybody can have a train
just when they want or a connection that will always work out.
Noel Weaver

jp1822 wrote:Well they also just lost this customer with the re-vamp of the New York - Florida bound trains. The last of the late night departures out of New York Penn is now history - Silver Meteor will depart NYP at 2:15 p.m. and arrive into Savannah at 5:00 a.m. (Charleston even earlier). Used this train quite often for business trips to Charleston and Savannah - schedule worked well. Now it's useless. I don't know how Amtrak plans on supporting the Meteor schedule with equipment, when the Meteor is often delayed waiting for inbound equipment (i.e. the Lakeshore Limited).

Yes it does if I was Amtrak I'd keep the Late Night Departure.

AmtrakFan

Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2004 11:34 pm Post subject: etc

"In my opinion, Amtrak has to look at their schedules to determine where
they can best serve their major end points and also most important how
their equipment turns and cycles will work out.
The loss of a connection between EB 50 and any Florida train is not very
important in my viewpoint. Train 50 likely is late much of the time so the
Florida train will not get stuck for it and passengers planning on making
this connection will be spared the problem when the connection is not
made. I doubt if there is a big market for passenger travel between the EB 50 and the SB 97. On lines with only one or two daily trains, not everybody can have a train just when they want or a connection that will always work out. Noel Weaver "

Well then I really don't understand.

First off, the Silver Meteor's drastic upcoming schedule change will cancel out the possibility of using same day run-through equipment from the Crescent or Lake Shore, as was often done last year and still continues today. Where is the extra equipment coming from to help compensate this - if the Three Rivers sleepers are going to the Lake Shore. If that's true, then one would expect four sleepers on the Lake Shore - one transferred from the Three Rivers and one transferred from the Boston section of the Lake Shore (as reported on another forum) and the typical winter two sleepers on the NY section. But I bet the Lake Shore, at best will only see 2 sleepers on average for the winter and we will still see the Viewliner shortages.

I am horrified over the Meteor's schedule change. I think this is a big mistake - mostly from a equipment utilization standpoint (let alone missed connections with the Cardinal, Vermonter, Lake Shore Limited, Three Rivers, and probably some others I can't think of).

In the "old days" - two years ago - the NY inbound Meteor arriving at 9:30 a.m. became the same day's Meteor NY outbound at 7 p.m. New Meteor schedule will not provide for this.

And good luck on the petition that is being circulated to keep the sleepers on the Three Rivers at least until March - no way with these chaotic winter changes at Amtrak. Signing off as a frustrated Amtrak rider.....

PS - Been riding the Northeast Corridor regularly this past week. Chroncially late trains - no wonder Amtrak is losing it's competetive edge here to the airlines......

If Amtrak could repair two heritage diners, and make more efficient use of the rest of the Viewliner fleet (I think the Meteor requires 4 sets where they could get away with 3, but that's with the current schedule, I don't know how the new schedule works out), they could combine the Capitol Limited and Silver (whatever...Meteor in the case of the new schedule), with a through coach/sleeper to NY, and give the Capitol Limited's Superliners to the Cardinal to run it daily Chicago-Washington.

But that would be too radical a thought for Amtrak to ever consider.