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jbvb wrote: ↑Sat May 06, 2023 2:44 pmThe Boston & Albany line from Worcester to Springfield was all double track into the Conrail era. Before dieselization, there were a couple of 4-track segments on the most troublesome grades. IIRC one was west of Worcester, the other east of Palmer but I'd need to dig in my library to be sure.Interesting, so that section could be double tracked with full 261, which would provide a lot of capacity for freight and passenger to mix.
Amtrak Adds More Northeast Regional Service to Springfield Beginning June 5
Highlights continued demand for more trains in New England
WASHINGTON – Amtrak, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), and the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) are pleased to announce two additional Amtrak Northeast Regional trains serving Springfield Union Station beginning Monday, June 5, 2023. Amtrak Northeast Regional trains offer customers single seat rides and direct access from Springfield to New York City in three and half hours and connections to the Northeast Corridor for travel to Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington and more.
“Adding two new Northeast Regional trains between Springfield and New York City meets the growing demand of train travel and allows more people to experience the benefits of passenger rail,” said Amtrak President Roger Harris. “Thanks to our collaboration with MassDOT and CTDOT, and with support from MTA Metro North, we can offer more service, reduce travel times and provide greater travel flexibility for our customers, including arriving in New York from Springfield and Hartford before 9 a.m.”
“Bringing additional train service and more options for riders along the Hartford and New Haven Lines is the result of a strong collaboration between CTDOT and our partners. We worked closely with Amtrak, MTA Metro-North Railroad, and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to make this happen,” said Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto. “Governor Lamont has charged us to improve rail travel in the state and give people more sustainable travel options. We delivered on the Super Express trains, which get riders from New Haven to New York in as little as 99 minutes, and now we are bringing this service to riders through funding provided in the Governor’s budget last year. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this possible. I look forward to future collaborations with our regional partners so we can continue to provide additional environmentally friendly commuting options for riders.”
“We appreciate the partnership with the Connecticut Department of Transportation, MTA Metro-North Railroad, and Amtrak which is leading to additional train service from Springfield,” said Massachusetts Transportation Secretary and CEO Gina Fiandaca. “These additional trips providing direct service between Western Massachusetts and New York City enhance the rail network and will make passenger train service an even more attractive travel option for visitors and residents. Additional travel by train will have many benefits, including taking vehicles off the roads, lessening traffic congestion, and helping to reduce greenhouse gases.”
Amtrak Northeast Regional trains offer single seat ride options from Springfield and Hartford to Moynihan Train Hall at New York Penn Station. Customers can depart Springfield at 4:45 a.m. or Hartford Union Station at 5:26 a.m. and arrive at Moynihan Train Hall at New York Penn Station at 8:10 a.m. or leave Springfield at 7:50 a.m. or Hartford at 8:35 a.m. and arrive in New York at 11:21 a.m. Heading north riders can depart New York at 6:59 p.m. and get into Hartford at 9:51 p.m. or Springfield at 10:40 p.m. or leave New York by 8:50 p.m. and get into Hartford at 11:41 p.m. or Springfield at 12:26 a.m.
Travelers can save on the stress from driving, lower their carbon footprint and expect the same amenities onboard Northeast Regional, trains as they do on most Amtrak trains. This includes free Wi-Fi, the freedom to use phones and electronic devices at all times (no “airplane mode”), the ability to travel with small pets within the US, large spacious seats with ample leg room and no middle seat.
Some additional service changes were made to the Springfield-Hartford Line service to accommodate this addition. Tickets are now available via Amtrak.com, the Amtrak app, Amtrak ticket desks and kiosks, and through 1-800-USA-RAIL.
Additional Amtrak Northeast Regional Train Service
Two new Amtrak trains begin service June 5 providing Connecticut riders direct access to Penn Station
The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), and Amtrak are pleased to announce the addition of two Amtrak Northeast Regional trains originating on the Hartford Line beginning June 5, 2023. Amtrak Northeast Regional trains offer customers single-seat rides from Connecticut to New York City. With stops in Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, and Stamford, these new Northeast Regional trains provide riders direct access to New York Penn Station. Riders can go from Hartford to Penn Station in less than three hours.
“Bringing additional train service and more options for riders along the Hartford and New Haven Lines is the result of a strong collaboration between CTDOT and our partners. We worked closely with Amtrak, MTA Metro-North Railroad, and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to make this happen,” said Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto. “Governor Lamont has charged us to improve rail travel in the state and give people more sustainable travel options. We delivered on the Super Express trains, which get riders from New Haven to New York in as little as 99 minutes, and now we are bringing this service to riders through funding provided in the Governor’s budget last year. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this possible. I look forward to future collaborations with our regional partners so we can continue to provide additional environmentally friendly commuting options for riders.”
“We appreciate the partnership with the Connecticut Department of Transportation, MTA Metro-North Railroad, and Amtrak, which is leading to additional train service from Springfield,” said Massachusetts Transportation Secretary and CEO Gina Fiandaca. “These additional trips providing direct service between Western Massachusetts and New York City enhance the rail network and will make passenger train service an even more attractive travel option for visitors and residents. Additional travel by train will have many benefits, including taking vehicles off the roads, lessening traffic congestion, and helping to reduce greenhouse gases.”
“Adding two new Northeast Regional trains between Springfield and New York City meets the growing demand of train travel and allows more people to experience the benefits of passenger rail,” said Amtrak President Roger Harris. “Thanks to our collaboration with MassDOT and CTDOT, and with support from MTA Metro North, we can offer more service, reduce travel times and provide greater travel flexibility for our customers, including arriving in New York from Springfield and Hartford before 9 a.m.”
Amtrak Northeast Regional trains offer single-seat ride options from Hartford to New York Penn Station with intermediary stops in New Haven, Bridgeport, and Stamford. Customers can leave Hartford Union Station at 5:26 AM and arrive at New York Penn Station at 8:10 AM or leave Hartford at 8:35 AM and arrive in New York at 11:21 AM. Riders heading north can depart from New York at 6:59 PM and get into Hartford at 9:51 PM or leave New York by 8:50 PM and get into Hartford at 11:41 PM.
Some additional service changes were made to the Hartford Line service to accommodate this addition. Updated schedules can be found at HartfordLine.com.
For information about all rail services in Connecticut, visit CTrail.com.
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Can Intercity Trains into Boston Enter from Springfield?
From time to time, I see plans for intercity rail service into Boston going via Springfield. These include in-state rail plans to run trains between the two cities, but also grander plans to have train go between Boston and New Haven via Springfield, branded as the Inland Route, as an alternative to the present-day Northeast Corridor. In-state service is fine, and timed connections to New Haven are also fine for the benefit of interregional travel like Worcester-Hartford, but as an intercity connection, the Inland Route is a terrible choice, and no accommodation should be made for it in any plans. This post goes over why.
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In both cases, it’s important to follow best practices, which the current Hartford Line does not. I enumerated them for urban commuter rail yesterday, and in the case of intercity or interregional rail, the points about electrification and frequency remain apt. The frequency section on commuter rail talks about suburbs within 30 km of the city, and Springfield is much farther away, so the minimum viable frequency is lower than for suburban rail – hourly service is fine, and half-hourly service is at the limit beyond which further increases in frequency no longer generate much convenience benefit for passengers.
It’s also crucial to timetable the trains right. Not only should they be running on a clockface hourly (ideally half-hourly) schedule, but also everything should be timed to connect. This includes all of the following services:
Intercity trains to Hartford, New Haven, and New York
Intercity trains to Boston
Regional trains upriver to smaller Pioneer Valley cities like Northampton and Greenfield (those must be at least half-hourly as they cover a shorter distance)
Springfield buses serving Union Station, which acts as a combined bus-rail hub (PVTA service is infrequent, so the transfers can and should be timed)
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The operating costs of slower trains are higher than those of faster trains; this is especially true if, as in current plans, the slow trains are not even electrified
The only reason to charge less for the trains that are more expensive to operate is to break the market into slow trains for poor people and fast trains for rich people. But this doesn’t generate any value for the customer – it just grabs profits through price discrimination that are then wasted on the higher operating costs of the inferior service. It’s the intercity equivalent of charging more for trains than for buses within a cityI like that he mentions restoring a station in Newton Corner, but that is more an MBTA issue. He doesn't mention the need for a Route 128/95/Riverside station, for which a practical affordable site probably no longer exists. I have to disagree when he talks about service every half hour to Northhampton & Greenfield "because it is shorter". Way overkill.
