AMTRAK NEC: Springfield Shuttle/Regional/Valley Flyer/Inland Routing

Mr. Norman, you make a good point about safety.

Jehochman wrote:Mr. Norman, you make a good point about safety.

Yes, Mr. Norman did hit upon one reason, but there are more reasons to consider than just worker's safety. Construction work can be very noisy, and many construction jobs occurring at night are frown upon by sleep deprived neighbors. It's easy for some to suggest work should be performed at night to minimize operations delays during the day, but if you lived nearby the construction sites you would suggest just the opposite.

We live in a world of billions of people, we should look at things from more than just one viewpoint, we should take the time to consider how others may feel about any particular topic. Construction only at night is not very common - ever wondered why? There's usually more than just one reason why.

jehochman, when this bus business started in August a couple of the bus drivers were quick to mention that the bus company has a 2-year contract so I won't hold my breath about the bustitution being over in July 2016. My prediction based on performance is 2017 at best.
Mr. Norman and all, I also heard from a friend on Amtrak that night work is avoided because of the the increased injury potential - and the neighbors do complain about night work that is also a fact the I remember reading about in the local paper.
When all is completed in 2017 or 2018, the big problem for Amtrak will be trying to rebuild the passenger loadings - if they are interested in doing that. I can see the planned Hartford Line local services meeting most of the demands for service between Springfield and New Haven - bye-bye Springfield "shuttles?" I'm sure Peter Pan Bus Lines will be trying to hang on to all the business that has come its way. PPBL service was designed around highway use, but the bustitution is trying to cover previous train schedules on parallel back roads and this is not working very well.
Right now I'll bet there are the fewest passenger trains running on this line since the 1840s!

There'll probably be complaints when the volume spikes to even higher levels than pre-bustitution. As I believe others have noted on here before, I believe many if not most or all of the shuttles are going away. You'll be left with the Regionals and Vermonter, albeit making far fewer stops (only Berlin, Hartford, and Windsor?). Whether it's branded NHHS or Amtrak, it's all CtDOT subsidized with the exception of the Vermonter, which is mostly subsidized by VT of course.

While a lot of the upgrades have run into delays, I'd expect even though the contract may be longer, they'll meet the timetable on this portion of the work simply because Malloy will stroke out if they don't. CtDOT needs this to be done timely so they can move on to the next big nugget in their plans; the 84 viaduct. They can't do that if this line is not running.

the 84 viaduct

For those not local, I-84 is the main route between New York and Boston. There's a two mile stretch of elevated highway in Hartford that is past due to be replaced, at a cost of several billion dollars. Construction isn't scheduled to begin until 2020.

The only highway detours around I-84 through Hartford are I-691 or CT-72/CT-9 to I-91 in Middletown. From there, traffic heads north to CT-5, and crosses to East Hartford, rejoining I-84. These detours will turn I-91 into a parking lot. The CT fastrak busway running parallel to I-84 is going to come in handy, as will the Hartford Line, running alongside I-91.

I won't miss the Amtrak Shuttle once the Hartford Line is going. The Shuttle amenities are no better than a commuter train and they only connect with morning and evening Amtrak Regionals. With the Hartford Line hourly or twice hourly service it should be possible to connect with Acela, Metro North, and mid-day Regionals. It should also be possible to connect with the Lake Shore Limited. The current connection in Springfield is a 2.5 hour layover.

Jehochman wrote:The current connection in Springfield is a 2.5 hour layover.

Yeah, the Hartford line is going to do good for the LSL. I won't say it'll work miracles for increasing ridership, but it'll definitely make a non-negligible difference. The only reason I was okay with the long layover when I took the LSL out west was because Springfield happens to be a good spot for railfanning... the multiple hour delay combined with the still not renovated station makes that situation otherwise awful.


And, in other news, starting tomorrow (October 3rd), the Vermonter is going to be be bustituted all the way to St. Albans:

Amtrak wrote:Vermonter Trains 54 and 57 Bus Service Provided between New Haven and St. Albans
Effective on Saturday, October 3, 2015

Track work being performed between New Haven and St. Albans will affect Vermonter service as follows:

• Trains 54 and 57 will operate as scheduled in both directions between New Haven, CT, and Washington.
• Passengers will be provided bus service at all stations between New Haven and St. Albans, VT, except Claremont, NH, Windsor, VT, and Randolph, VT.

Thank you for traveling with Amtrak.

Source

Jehochman wrote:

the 84 viaduct

For those not local, I-84 is the main route between New York and Boston. There's a two mile stretch of elevated highway in Hartford that is past due to be replaced, at a cost of several billion dollars. Construction isn't scheduled to begin until 2020.

The only highway detours around I-84 through Hartford are I-691 or CT-72/CT-9 to I-91 in Middletown. From there, traffic heads north to CT-5, and crosses to East Hartford, rejoining I-84. These detours will turn I-91 into a parking lot. The CT fastrak busway running parallel to I-84 is going to come in handy, as will the Hartford Line, running alongside I-91.

I won't miss the Amtrak Shuttle once the Hartford Line is going. The Shuttle amenities are no better than a commuter train and they only connect with morning and evening Amtrak Regionals. With the Hartford Line hourly or twice hourly service it should be possible to connect with Acela, Metro North, and mid-day Regionals. It should also be possible to connect with the Lake Shore Limited. The current connection in Springfield is a 2.5 hour layover.

The Shuttle's not going away. It's just going to become the New Haven-Boston Shuttle as the primary schedule pattern for the Inlands. And--sooner--likely a similar faux-commuter service as today repurposed to poke up the Conn River Line to Greenfield, since MassDOT really doesn't have much to gain introducing real commuter rail service up there until the Hartford Line schedule has buffed out to its full 32 trains per day and can either serve up the transfer options at Springfield or the run-thru joint venture for terminating the Conn River service in Hartford. With some of the CT stops getting traded off to CDOT, the Shuttles just end up morphing into a Massachusetts-centric service and jumping-off point for their future plans. Which is fine; they need to stimulate the mobility pretty badly on those growth corridors. This is the means to that end.

110mph on the Springfield line?

Somebody's dreamin' ...

Aside:
Between Enfield and just south of Springfield, 110 "in the book" is possible. But as on the Acelas (with "150" on the Shoreline), you won't be runnin' that fast for very long!

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:And--sooner--likely a similar faux-commuter service as today repurposed to poke up the Conn River Line to Greenfield, since MassDOT really doesn't have much to gain introducing real commuter rail service up there until the Hartford Line schedule has buffed out to its full 32 trains per day and can either serve up the transfer options at Springfield or the run-thru joint venture for terminating the Conn River service in Hartford.

But didn't MA look into extended Amtrak shuttles to Greenfield and deemed it too expensive hence the acquisition of the two F40s and who knows what handful of coaches?

I do agree with the notion that MA setting up such a very small commuter operation on its own doesn't really make whole lot of sense when they could just pay CDOT to run some of their trains north of SPG. Heck the two DOTs could just team up and rebrand the whole kit 'n' kaboodle the "Hartford & Pioneer Valley Line"

Joint ops for the Ma side up the Conn River,you are going to have 2 Governors,then 2 state houses full of "critters"
to agree and fund the joint ops. Might be a "hard" sell in Conn and Mass.

Backshophoss wrote:Joint ops for the Ma side up the Conn River,you are going to have 2 Governors,then 2 state houses full of "critters"
to agree and fund the joint ops. Might be a "hard" sell in Conn and Mass.

Works beautifully for MA and RI.

The HARDER sell will be Conn State house "critters" and Governor,then the voting Public.

Status update from NHHS:

Beginning on Friday, October 16th and concluding by Sunday, October 18th, there will be construction activity on the rail line in the area of Cedar Street and Liberty Street in the town of Newington. Work will include the replacement/rehabilitation of culverts. The work will occur during the 32-hour period beginning at 10PM on Friday and concluding at 6AM on Sunday. While no vehicular traffic impacts are anticipated, there will be construction noise throughout this period and temporary lighting to support overnight work in the area.

This could be the reason why some trains have been cancelled this weekend between New Haven and Springfield.

They are working nights, at least for this stage of the project.

Apologies if there is a thread covering this, but I searched briefly and didn't see anything.

http://wnpr.org/post/rail-construction- ... s#stream/0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There is a great photo of what was once a manned interlocking Tower at HART during the days of the New Haven. A few years ago, Amtrak filed to demolish this building, I am glad it is still standing, albeit it is about to demolish itself.

- BWP

During much of the New Haven Railroad era, the tower was referred to a SS (signal station) 214. In 1969 after the Penn Central takeover it was redignated "HART" tower, using PRR tower designation practice. It closed in July 1990. The model board and some of the levers were saved. A major fire in the 1980s pretty much took the roof off. The neighborhood has been one of the worse in Hartford for at least 50 years. During riots nearby in the late 1960s one of the tower operators told me he spent most of the time on the floor to prevent "lead poisoning" as there were many gunshots heard.