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This informative trip report is disheartening. I haven't taken an LD trip in some time.These days I seem only to travel on the Pennsy. I was considering a trip to Florida to ride Brightline; a friend with whom I've taken several LD trips in the past wanted to do it with me. But having read this and ...

If the MTA/LIRR ran the project it would take 30 years and cost $30 billion. Second Avenue Subway anyone? Uh, maybe 30 years is too optimistic. But NJT is trying its best to compete. How long has the Andover project taken and when will it get done?

Anyone can print up a "conceptual" schedule. I'll believe it when I see actual trains running on a schedule, but I still doubt that we will see the service in my lifetime, much less in 5 years. Aside from everything else, neither NJT nor Amtrak has a good track record as project manager,

I was wrong in my previous post for not realizing that some trains would stop at Morristown and others at Montclair. The "conceptual" schedule still seems unrealistically fast, suggesting and unrealistically short transit time on NJT rails. I don't know how fast the PA part of the route wo...

Well, Jeff, whoever wrote the press release you posted must have been smoking some of the good stuff. First, this could be done in 5 years, by 2028? Right now the NJT extension of service to Andover via the cutoff is at least a couple of years away. Two hours 50 minutes to Scranton? The Phoebe Snow ...

Who is managing the project? Is it Amtrak? The Port Authority?

It's been apparent to me for many years that Amtrak's management has the job of failing to run a railroad. Looked at in this way, Amtrak's management is doing the job it has been hired to do and so deserves its bonuses. I keep hoping for an Amtrak board that will reverse this state of affairs but it...

One big reason there was no rail on the bridge was that Westchester didn't want it. Westchester is more populous and wealthier than Rockland. And even in Rockland there were a lot of NIMBYs. So unless a groundswell of demand for commuter rail from Rockland were to sweep Westchester there will be no ...

It often seems that Amtrak will do anything to avoid running trains. But an Amtrak train hit by a falling piece of concrete is a much greater potential liability than a freight train so hit. So, it isn't a fair comparison between CSX and Amtrak.

Is there any government agency that would have the authority to get CN to agree to big fines or to relinquish the authority to dispatch its own railroad? The article seems to say that Amtrak is asking CN voluntarily to agree to these terms. What stick or carrot could Amtrak offer CN? If CN and Amtra...

The Lackawanna's frontline employees had pride in their railroad. The trains were old but ran on time. As for NJT, I think the managers are the ones who don't care. I just looked at their website where they talk about capital plans. They are just PR doubletalk. Incidentally I could find no mention o...

I spent a lot of time commuting from Suffern to Hoboken on NJT. Earlier, when I was a kid in the 50s we had a summer place near the Lackawanna's Boonton station. I also lived on the Harlem Line in Westchester for a while. The Boonton Line had an express that ran nonstop from Boonton to Hoboken in 40...

what with downloadable pdf's I don't think putting out timetables is the expense it was back in the day. So, timetables are an inexpensive convenience for customers. It is easier to see your options with a pdf than with Amtrak's current arrangement. But once again, Amtrak just doesn't care.

Probably many of Amtrak's problems are caused by the chaos Mr Railjunkie points out. Why does it take hours to rescue a train that breaks down on the Corridor? Why do any kinds of operational problems seem to quickly spiral out of control, leading to massive delays? Trains used to be the safest mode...

This is a depressing list of nominees. Seems like Mr. Biden is paying off political debts rather than picking the best candidates to oversee a railroad. I guess we have a continuing bipartisan, lack of interest in Amtrak's actual improvement. The current Amtrak management has finally made its long d...