Where would you drop NEC stops?

Are there any stops on the NEC that should be dropped or consolidated?...

There's the rub. I doubt there's any that can be dropped or consolidated.

Think about it this way: You have different levels of service, from commuter rail to express commuter rail to Amtrak Regional to Acela and LD services. Commuter rail stuff usually has a set price that's lower than that of Amtrak's services... essentially making Amtrak "super express" (or even "uber express" for Acela) for an extra charge.

Not only that, you have folks who commute much larger distances for the same time taken via Amtrak versus commuter rail for us. For instance, MARC would have to put a station between Martin Airport and Edgewood at the 90 min mark from DC, while Amtrak gets you to Philly. I met a few folk who had monthly Amtrak passes that did Baltimore to Philly and back.

The only station that I would drop would be one that gets so little traffic from any service at all... and so far, we don't have that.

In the past, I've thought Bridgeport, CT, for the same reasons that a stop at Greenwich or South Norwalk would likely not be considered as an add in our additional stops thread. Bridgeport is a tangled mess between Waterbury trains and Amtrak shuffling through interlockings to get to the outside. While the speeds through there are not great, you'd probably gain 5 or 10 minutes by skipping that stop.

Also Old Saybrook; proximity to New London.

Not sure what the passenger counts are at either.

One of the beauties of rail travel and the beauty of high-frequency corridors like the NEC is that it's easy to add additional stops and not have all service stop there. I would say it wouldn't make a lot of sense to eliminate any of the stations on the NEC, but rather change what trains stop there. For instance nearly every single Acela stops at New Haven and Stamford. Probably would make some sense to have some of those stop at New London instead of New Haven. Same goes with Newark and Metropark.

Jeff Smith wrote: ↑Wed Oct 18, 2023 3:41 am In the past, I've thought Bridgeport, CT, for the same reasons that a stop at Greenwich or South Norwalk would likely not be considered as an add in our additional stops thread. Bridgeport is a tangled mess between Waterbury trains and Amtrak shuffling through interlockings to get to the outside. While the speeds through there are not great, you'd probably gain 5 or 10 minutes by skipping that stop.

Also Old Saybrook; proximity to New London.

Not sure what the passenger counts are at either.

Bridgeport, CT sounds like something that could use a middle platform for accessing interior tracks. I know there were plans to widen BWI Airport, MD to 4 tracks and have a middle platform via a new crossover and a new station built north of the existing one.

Trenton could really benefit from that (and it was actually considered in the late 1960's when the Metroliners were in the planning stage, with an island platform between Tracks 2 and 3). but there's no room without massive track rearrangements (done under traffic!) including tight curves in tracks 1 and 2 immediately west of the west platform ends, requiring a speed restriction even for nonstops. Track numbers cited are the actual ones, not those posted for the public; e.g.. the four main tracks between the platforms are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 from south to north.

Jeff Smith wrote: ↑Wed Oct 18, 2023 3:41 am Also Old Saybrook; proximity to New London.

Not sure what the passenger counts are at either.

That's my home Amtrak station, about 5 miles away from me. There's quite a bit of Amtrak business there. The Acelas don't stop, but a good number of regionals do. And there's usually a good amount of people getting on or off. Its a good intermediate stop (20 miles from NLD, 30 from NHV, give or take). And with the hassles of driving on I-95 to either station, it suites its market quite well. And still has a staffed ticket window daily.

While I can't think of any NEC spine stops to remove, I would restructure the Hartford Line service and remove from Amtrak's roster stops in Wally, Berlin, and the Windsors, leaving them exclusively for commuter rail. In order for the Hartford Line to be truly successful and attract more riders, the 400-series shuttles should be discarded and replaced with ConnDOT trainsets (they have more than enough equipment). If someone is commuting from, say, Wallingford to Hartford and they are chosing a 400-series train, if the mainline train is late into New Haven, then the 400-series shuttle isn't leaving NHV, thus cascading the delays up the line. Keep Meriden and Hartford for a pair of thru Regionals on the line, plus the Vermonter.

Also not directly NEC, but I don't believe ridership is that high at all at Windsor-Ascutney, VT, especially since the closing of Mt Ascutney. I've been on the Vermonter several times when we've gone thru Windsor-Ascutney (and Randolph, too) without stopping.

Cornwells Heights never lived up to the park & ride that it could be (much like Metropark and 128/Westwood).

North Philadelphia could be dropped, but it has been known as future gentrification area and transit may once
be in demand again.

Note all local NEC stops between New Haven and Old Saybrook are served by SLE only.

In order for Cornwells Heights to work as a P&R, more Regionals and Keystones would have to stop there, particularly PM westbounds; nobody's going to leave their car there if they have only a limited choice of trains coming back from New York, and every train stopping there has to use the outside track from HOLMES to GRUNDY (Bristol) and vv. Probably not worth it--better as a strictly SEPTA stop.