hi55us wrote:I don't blame the people for booking the LD Trains southbound. More legroom and less stops than Regional trains (no NCR, BWI, MET ect... on a lot of them). Smartly, looks like Amtrak isn't willing to sell any northbound tickets, only on the Palmetto which has a section of coaches added/removed at WAS IIRC.
I took a trip on the Palmetto in August from Philly to D.C., and us passengers disembarking at D.C. or earlier were directed to the first two cars, which were both empty when I disembarked at WAS. There were many people waiting for that train (southbound) at WAS, but based on the empty cars and the value of efficient train car door management, I concur that those empty cars were more than likely detached at the station.
ApproachMedium wrote:This was experimented with during the holidays. They would only do it for southbounds, and i think it pretty much still works that way because of OTP. It caught on as an excellent way to reduce last minute crowd rushing out of NY/Philly during busier hours so they just kept doing it. You will rarely see it come up for the northbount trains because their on time performance is not always so accurate, since amtrak does not control them until DC and from DC to NY the stops are allowed to leave before the scheduled time, drop off only.
It seems that you could check baggage on the NYP-WAS segment of these trains, as there is no "No checked baggage" notation on these trips. But I am only speculating. That option in the northbound direction is currently limited to two trains, both of them at night (the Palmetto and the overnight NE Regional).
bratkinson wrote:
As far as connecting trains to Harrisburg not showing up, I noticed a couple weeks ago that various connecting train options from SPG to CHI are no longer offered, either. Perhaps they decided there wasn't enough connecting traffic to make it an option, or, maybe the PHL-HBG segment usually fills up on its own, so they no longer offer it as a connection.
Are there 1 car Keystones (or Keystones that only operate with one car open and the others closed)? In every trip I've taken on them, at least 2 cars were opened, and I've taken trips where there were ~10 people in my car HAR-PHL/NYP in the evening.
These connecting trips are listed in the timetable -- therefore, they should be offered. Are trains leaving PHL 6:25am & 7:25am and arriving HAR 8:15am & 9:10am, respectively, that full? (Many passengers disembark at Lancaster!) Perhaps, but regardless, I stand by my statement. Plus, I cannot find viable alternatives to get to Philadelphia 30th Street by bus (Greyhound, Peter Pan, Megabus, Boltbus, etc.) at those departure times.
One of these days I'll contact Amtrak about these trips, if no one beats me to it. But then I will be taking these trips once or twice a year at most, so I am not the best passenger to ask for sustained service.