by mtuandrew
A twice-daily PHL-RDG-HAR turn would make sense. That’s a lot to ask from NS though.
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Suburban Station wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2019 8:47 amHaven't they been working on this for the past 30 years?rcthompson04 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 11, 2019 9:15 pm What about some relatively short corridors like Scranton to NYP and Reading to NYP via the Lehigh Valley?I think scranton would be an extension of an njt route but reading would make a lot of sense as a Keystone type route. if it went to harrisburg from reading you could even use the same facilities though that might be a steeper ask than just reading.
WashingtonPark wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2019 1:38 pmIndeed. There's actually a 358-page thread on it over on the New Jersey Transit board. It would involve restoring service on the Lackawanna Cut-Off between Port Morris, NJ and Slateford, PA.Suburban Station wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2019 8:47 amHaven't they been working on this for the past 30 years?rcthompson04 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 11, 2019 9:15 pm What about some relatively short corridors like Scranton to NYP and Reading to NYP via the Lehigh Valley?I think scranton would be an extension of an njt route but reading would make a lot of sense as a Keystone type route. if it went to harrisburg from reading you could even use the same facilities though that might be a steeper ask than just reading.
ryanch wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2019 2:20 pm The latter is really interesting to me, since I had suggested a tourist-centered extension of the Hiawatha service, to bring people to the Wisconsin Dells area. I hadn't realized that Amtrak might consider a Friday one-way/Sunday return style service. That would vastly reduce the cost of my proposal, and maybe the operational impact on the host railroad; as well as the risks of using train sets at close to the margins of their availability.The New York area is a bit of an outlier for things like this. It's really the only place in this country with a large concentration of affluent people who don't own cars. Hence the continued existence of things like the LIRR Cannonball to the Hamptons, the New York - Martha's Vineyard boats, etc. It's also the reason seasonal Friday/Sunday service to the Berkshires (via the New Haven's Berkshire Route through Danbury and Canaan) lasted right up to A Day in 1971.
Ridgefielder wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2019 2:32 pm The New York area is a bit of an outlier for things like this. It's really the only place in this country with a large concentration of affluent people who don't own cars. Hence the continued existence of things like .... the New York - Martha's Vineyard boats, etc.The Martha's Vineyard service has much more to do with the geography of Martha's Vineyard than car ownership in New York. If car ownership was the issue, the ferries would be servicing Cape Cod and the Jersey Shore since many more New Yorkers vacation there than on Martha's Vineyard.
gokeefe wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2019 2:24 pm It "helps" (aka is required) that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is willing to pay for it ... Wisconsin could just as well pay for a train to Duluth if they so desired ...Guessing you mean (Wisconsin) Dells, George. Unlikely that Wisconsin would fund its own train to Duluth, MN/Superior, WI direct from Milwaukee, especially with Minnesota working on its own MSP-Duluth service. A direct service skipping MSP would also necessitate CN track, and that seems even less likely.
ryanch wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2019 2:40 pm There are lots of reasons for caution, and at this point, the Berkshire model hasn't even begun running, let alone proving itself successful.This weekend model has been done successfully before and it also was done in Massachusetts,
Still, i think the number of new expansions, and the sense of experimentation behind it, is very interesting. If they succeed, many new horizons open up.
bostontrainguy wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2019 11:35 pmWhy did it not continue?ryanch wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2019 2:40 pm There are lots of reasons for caution, and at this point, the Berkshire model hasn't even begun running, let alone proving itself successful.This weekend model has been done successfully before and it also was done in Massachusetts,
Still, i think the number of new expansions, and the sense of experimentation behind it, is very interesting. If they succeed, many new horizons open up.
Amtrak launched the Cape Codder on July 3, 1986. The original schedule included four trains weekly: trains from New York to Hyannis on Friday evening (#272) and Saturday morning (#270), and trains from Hyannis to New York on Saturday (#271) and Sunday afternoon (#273).
ryanch wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2019 9:58 pm Its the existence of track and station that makes expansion simpler and less expensive. Yes Green Bay is an interesting idea, but a lot more would have to be done to send a train there.Very true regarding the station platforms, especially for stops between Green Bay and Milwaukee, but the track is there at least. Unfortunately it’s owned by CN which has proven to be a somewhat frustrating landlord for Amtrak (see the stalled Blackhawk to Dubuque.)
Rockingham Racer wrote: ↑Fri Dec 13, 2019 5:39 amIt did last 10 years.bostontrainguy wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2019 11:35 pmWhy did it not continue?
Amtrak launched the Cape Codder on July 3, 1986. The original schedule included four trains weekly: trains from New York to Hyannis on Friday evening (#272) and Saturday morning (#270), and trains from Hyannis to New York on Saturday (#271) and Sunday afternoon (#273).