AMTRAK NEC: Springfield Shuttle/Regional/Valley Flyer/Inland Routing

Ok why would Amtrak add cars for service they were not contracted for ?
Why would they let discounted passenger on trains that Amtrak passengers pay full fare on ?
I think Redecker has started smoking weed ahead of law.

They're contracted by CTDOT for the service.

gokeefe wrote:They're contracted by CTDOT for the service.

Its ConnDOT and MassDOT.

Here's the relevant text from the Amtrak timetable --
Service between Springfield and New Haven is financed primarily through funds made available
by the Connecticut Department of Transportation and the Massachusetts Department of
Transportation.

DutchRailnut wrote:Ok why would Amtrak add cars for service they were not contracted for ?
Why would they let discounted passenger on trains that Amtrak passengers pay full fare on ?
I think Redecker has started smoking weed ahead of law.

Its not discounted. Amtrak and CTrail ticket prices are the same between NHV and SPG. And both tickets are accepted by both railroads. CTrail conductors carry scanners to scan Amtrak tickets.

I doubt anything will happen as far as additional cars before the Springfield station upgrades are done. It’s a bit tight at the station as track 4 is closed for use by the contractors and track 6, while open, doesn’t have a platform right now so they can only board/disembark at the walkway across the tracks. Track 2A which is normally used as a layover track for the Amtrak Shuttle equipment is being used for Shuttle boardings also. The Vermonter is limited to track 8 during the project so if both Vermonters arrive in Springfield at once, the northbound has to wait at the Sweeney Yard for the southbound to perform the stop and depart south. Happened to me today.

lordsigma12345 wrote:I doubt anything will happen as far as additional cars before the Springfield station upgrades are done.

What is the status of Platform C?

They appear to be progressing with placing the platform concrete footings and the footings for the canopy columns. November completion was advertised but I’m not so sure that’s realistic. Especially given that I would imagine re assembling that canopy structure that they had to preserve will take time.

Now granted the northbound Vermonter normally has to wait for the southbound to exit the CT river line if it beats the southbound to Springfield anyway, but at least previously it could wait within the station and the Springfield bound passengers could disembark and any other passengers could step off and get some fresh air. I heard one of the SAB bound crew members getting ready to board complaining about the current setup as I was exiting the train.

Is there a timeline for the beginning of this yet? Or just an empty
proposal?

Well ... at least they're making progress. I was concerned for a while that Springfield was going to hit a wall on the platform issue.

Agreed - sometimes for progress you have to deal with temporary inconveniences. The platform work began in August.

This was already announced a while back.

Here is an article giving some details about this and other plans to expand commuter rail service.

http://www.wamc.org/post/commuter-train ... rting-2019" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

NRGeep wrote:Is there a timeline for the beginning of this yet? Or just an empty
proposal?

The "Knowledge Corridor" was the name given to Conn River upon MassDOT rebuild and sale from PAS. So it has been in service for quite some time. If you mean commuter rail there is information out there on it.

Sounds promising ,though still vague. Meanwhile, as of October 1st, 2018, Peter Pan buses no longer serve Greenfield.

One shuttle trainset has been upgraded to 3 cars and ran today as 475 which is the one that’s been the biggest problem.