Passenger Trains > Corridor shut down, NY-Philadelphia

> Amtrak Northeast Corridor service is temporarily suspended between
> New York City and Philadelphia due to a reported gas leak, in
> Elizabeth, New Jersey.
>
> Fire department personnel have requested a temporary hold on all rail
> traffic through the area due to the proximity of the gas leak to the
> adjacent railroad tracks.
>
> All trains have been returned to their nearest stations, awaiting
> resumption of service.
>
> Sevice between Boston and New York is not impacted at this time.
>
> Amtrak regrets any inconvenience. This information is correct as of
> the above time and date. Information is subject to change as
> conditions warrant. Passengers are encouraged to call 800-USA-RAIL or
> visit Amtrak.com for schedule information and train status updates.

-source: AMTRAK

Thanks for that information.

There's now limited service as far south as Newark Airport from New York.

NJ Transit as of 1.12pm:

NEC and NJCL service will operate in both directions between Newark Airport, Newark Penn Station, Secaucus Junction and New York Penn Station only due to a gas leak in Elizabeth. NJ TRANSIT passes and tickets will be accepted on NJ TRANSIT Bus and Private Carrier Bus services.

NEC & NJCL service has been restored, however, customers may experience up to 30 minute delays due to an earlier gas leak in Elizabeth.

Sent: 1:17 PM

Shouldn't such a shut-down alert be placed somewhere conspicuous on their website, like the home page ?

jp1822 Wrote:
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> NEC & NJCL service has been restored, however,
> customers may experience up to 30 minute delays
> due to an earlier gas leak in Elizabeth.
>
> Sent: 1:17 PM

Last week, I noticed that construction work is continuing around the former Elizabethtown (Gas) Plaza, which is approximately at the site of the gas leak.

In this picture it would be just this side of the distant parking garage, and adjacent to the NEC at West Jersey Avenue. This picture was taken last year. The "S Curve" at Elmora is just behind (to the right in this picture) the Acela decorated for Cake Boss.

---

May 31, 2011
1:00 p.m. ET

Amtrak's Northeast Corridor service has resumed between New York and Philadelphia.

Earlier fire department activity involving a gas leak in Elizabeth, New Jersey, has been cleared.

Amtrak passengers should expect residual congestion related delays.

Amtrak regrets any inconvenience. This information is correct as of the above time and date. Information is subject to change as conditions warrant. Passengers are encouraged to call 800-USA-RAIL or visit Amtrak.com for schedule information and train status updates.

In terms of both reliability and cost, Megabus is looking better and better...see my post on "NEC follies" last week.

Last Wednesday, shutdown due to power problems between Wilmington and Newark, DE.

Thursday, neither 178 nor 196 departed on time due to an electric motor shortage.

Now this. Not a good month for "reliable all weather rail transportation".

I dunno about riding up and down the interstate with the $10/hr flunkies at the wheel. They are cheap labour to keep the costs down and fares cheap. Kinda scary.

Bill Miller
Galt, ON

Sunday night there was another bus accident near Doswell VA involving another bus headed to Chinatown. 4 dead and many injured. Northbound lanes of the highway shut down for many hours.

Jishnu Wrote:
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> Sunday night there was another bus accident near
> Doswell VA involving another bus headed to
> Chinatown. 4 dead and many injured. Northbound
> lanes of the highway shut down for many hours.


4 killed, 35 injured, I understand. Driver had four hours sleep and 16 hours of work. Similar to the guy who can-opened his bus on the New England thruway a few months ago, if the reports are accurate.

Neither the states nor the feds are interested in checking log records (electronic or paper) and few states check weights any more.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> Neither the states nor the feds are interested in
> checking log records (electronic or paper) and few
> states check weights any more.

I'd like to answer in kind by signifying to the various levels of govt. that I'm not interested in paying my taxes any more. I bet *that* would get a swift and effective response [-cynical chuckle-]. But life-or-death safety issues? I can almost hear them echoing Alfred E. Neuman right now: "What, me worry?"

While Megabus is a cut above a "Chinatown" bus, being Roach (uh- COach) USA, but there was that Syracuse incident and several other lesser accidents. I wouldn't ride them either.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/11 06:24 by joemvcnj.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/national_world&id=8161795

anthracite Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > Neither the states nor the feds are interested
> in
> > checking log records (electronic or paper) and
> few
> > states check weights any more.
>
> I'd like to answer in kind by signifying to the
> various levels of govt. that I'm not interested in
> paying my taxes any more. I bet *that* would get a
> swift and effective response [-cynical chuckle-].
> But life-or-death safety issues? I can almost hear
> them echoing Alfred E. Neuman right now: "What, me
> worry?"


The states could actually turn this into a profit making venture if they tied their weight and fuel use taxes into a shared database like the truck version of the E-Z pass. As long as you're a verified user, your weight is taken once, and passed down the line. Your employer is billed for the fuel tax / highway fees. The driver's log is handed electronically down the line as well.

Actually, buses are regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is on the 6th floor of the building I'm sitting in (USDOT HQ), and they were all talking about the accident on Monday morning. There is quite a lot of interest in checking logbooks, and in fact truckers are being required to install electronic data loggers. No more "cooking the books" for the regulators.

I wouldn't ride the Chinatown buses either, for obvious reasons, but I think Megabus is fairly reliable. Also, buses in general have a much lower accident rate than private automobiles. So saying you won't ride them makes about as much sense as people saying they won't ride commuter aircraft because they're unsafe; instead they'll drive for several hours to get to a major airport.