Passenger Trains > Capitol Limited service Labor Day weekend

While looking up something else, I came across this Amtrak Service Notice:

Track work being performed by CSX Transportation will affect Capitol Limited service on Sunday and Monday [of Labor Day weekend], at stations between Washington and Pittsburgh.

Trains 29 and 30

On September 6 and 7, 2015, Trains 29 and 30 will not stop at Connellsville, Cumberland, Martinsburg, Harpers Ferry and Rockville. Alternate service will not be provided to these stations.

Eastbound Train 30

Trains 30 (originating in Chicago on September 5 and 6) will terminate at Pittsburgh at 5:05 am on September 6 and 7, 2015. Passengers traveling to Washington will transfer to a bus in Pittsburgh that will operate directly to Washington. The bus will not make stops at stations between Pittsburgh and Washington.

Westbound Train 29

Train 29 will not operate from Washington to Pittsburgh. Passengers boarding in Washington who are traveling to Pittsburgh and beyond will board a bus from Washington directly to Pittsburgh. In Pittsburgh passengers will transfer to westbound Train 29, which will make all remaining stops on the route. The bus will not make stops between Washington and Pittsburgh.

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From an engineering department perspective, this is a great weekend to do major track work, with few freight trains running, but from a passenger service perspective, it feels like very bad timing.

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/15 21:21 by illini73.

Amtrak is a tenant.  CSX is the landlord.  CSX wants to do work, CSX does it.

The bad decision is the lack of alternate transportation to intermediate stations. 
That is an Amtrak "Novelty Transportation" choice.

Can we infer that "not stopping" at those stations means an alternate route?  Rare mileage opportunity?

railstiesballast Wrote:
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> Can we infer that "not stopping" at those stations
> means an alternate route?  Rare mileage
> opportunity?

No.  From the advisory:

Trains 30 (originating in Chicago on September 5 and 6) will terminate at Pittsburgh at 5:05 am on September 6 and 7, 2015.

Train 29 will not operate from Washington to Pittsburgh.

How nice for the passengers. Get out of bed at God knows when (but it will probably be hours late into Pittsburgh anyway so maybe not so bad), then a ride on a "luxury" bus on the scenic interstate. Hope passengers are smart enough to demand full refund on sleeping car charges from Pitt. to DC. But it does sound like Amtrak had little choice in the matter.

The express bus takes 4-1/2 hours witha break at Breezewood..
A local would take as long as the C-L normally takes.
Amtrak is too cheap to charter a local bus.

A better alternative is to operate Washington to Harrisburg over  a branch line the Pennsy used to use for Washington-Pittsburgh service or go up the NEC to Philladephia and then accoss Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh and on Chicago. I would NEVER, EVER ride a bus, which I consider to be low class transportation.

DavidJustinLynch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A better alternative is to operate Washington to
> Harrisburg over  a branch line the Pennsy used to
> use for Washington-Pittsburgh service or go up the
> NEC to Philladephia and then accoss Pennsylvania
> to Pittsburgh and on Chicago. I would NEVER, EVER
> ride a bus, which I consider to be low class
> transportation.

Such a detour would be painfully slow - even slower than the Cap's current route. It would require extra Amtrak
crews plus, if operated via the NS Port Road (the only way to avoid going all the way to Philly, since the Northern Central is long, long gone), an NS pilot crew for that section. Ain't gonna happen. As inferior as bus service is, it's the only practical alternative here. The bad call here is, as discussed above, Amtrak's decision to forsake anyone wanting service to the intermediate stops between Pittsburgh and Washington.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/15 07:32 by toledopatch.

I don't get why most of you guys don't like riding a bus, I had to do it 4 times last year going through the San Joaquin Valley to/from Sacramento-Stockton and LA-Bakersfield since there's no other way to connect with the trains between those points and they were nice bus rides, I mean come on, the world's not perfect!

DavidJustinLynch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A better alternative is to operate Washington to
> Harrisburg over  a branch line the Pennsy used to
> use for Washington-Pittsburgh service or go up the
> NEC to Philladephia and then accoss Pennsylvania
> to Pittsburgh and on Chicago. I would NEVER, EVER
> ride a bus, which I consider to be low class
> transportation.

Superliners won't fit through the tunnels on the NEC in Baltimore.

Posted from iPhone

DavidJustinLynch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A better alternative is to operate Washington to
> Harrisburg over  a branch line the Pennsy used to
> use for Washington-Pittsburgh service or go up the
> NEC to Philladephia and then accoss Pennsylvania
> to Pittsburgh and on Chicago. I would NEVER, EVER
> ride a bus, which I consider to be low class
> transportation.

Not possible to run Superliners through Baltimore B&P tunnel. So that is a DOA alternative.