Corona virus impacts on Amtrak

could he actually though? It's an Amtrak owned facility in a federally regulated industry?

bdawe wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:04 am could he actually though? It's an Amtrak owned facility in a federally regulated industry?

He could have all the access roads and sidewalks blocked. I heard that was threatened to the King of Prussia Mall when they initially refused to follow a state urging to close. Stay open Amtrak... if anyone can get there.

David Benton wrote: ↑Sun Mar 15, 2020 4:48 am As I think someone mentioned, this presents Amtrak with the possible unexpected chance to close one North river tube for rehabilitation or maintenance. Presumably they have a contingency plan for needing to close one tube , and commence urgent repairs on it. If the Saturday schedule cannot be maintained with one tube, could they come up with an alternative schedule to suit ? I guess alot depends on NJT's level of service too.
As far as funding goes , surely Chao would have to put her money where her mouth is , in regards to helping pay for repairs.

I had a similar thought, but the problem is the support infrastructure. You need enough healthy workers, a way to get them into work, steady power, heavy equipment, gasoline, and deliveries of whatever materials are needed, IE cement, lumber, other construction supplies. Could they marshall those resources with many businesses shut down?

Tadman wrote:

David Benton wrote: ↑Sun Mar 15, 2020 4:48 am As I think someone mentioned, this presents Amtrak with the possible unexpected chance to close one North river tube for rehabilitation or maintenance. Presumably they have a contingency plan for needing to close one tube , and commence urgent repairs on it. If the Saturday schedule cannot be maintained with one tube, could they come up with an alternative schedule to suit ? I guess alot depends on NJT's level of service too.
As far as funding goes , surely Chao would have to put her money where her mouth is , in regards to helping pay for repairs.

I had a similar thought, but the problem is the support infrastructure. You need enough healthy workers, a way to get them into work, steady power, heavy equipment, gasoline, and deliveries of whatever materials are needed, IE cement, lumber, other construction supplies. Could they marshall those resources with many businesses shut down?

As long as they don’t need toilet paper, other supply chains seem to be in good shape.

bdawe wrote:could he actually though? It's an Amtrak owned facility in a federally regulated industry?

In a state of emergency, apparently the State and City have the authority to shut off utilities to anyone.... that would effectively close CUS.


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rcthompson04 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:01 am

bdawe wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:04 am could he actually though? It's an Amtrak owned facility in a federally regulated industry?

He could have all the access roads and sidewalks blocked. I heard that was threatened to the King of Prussia Mall when they initially refused to follow a state urging to close. Stay open Amtrak... if anyone can get there.

Perhaps. Though it is a long-standing legal principle with respect to Constitutional protections, such as the interstate Commerce Clause applicable to railroads including Amtrak, that a government entity cannot do indirectly what is prohibited from doing directly.

eolesen wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 12:56 pm

bdawe wrote:could he actually though? It's an Amtrak owned facility in a federally regulated industry?

In a state of emergency, apparently the State and City have the authority to shut off utilities to anyone.... that would effectively close CUS.


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That power is limited to curtailments of natural gas and electricity when supply or delivery capacity is insufficient to supply all load / demand, and with respect to telecommunications line load control when necessary to allow government / critical communications to continue.

Impacts are impossible to predict now. Maybe in 4 - 6 weeks when the present restrictions have time to be effective or not effective. It will the after this crisis is over that the financial burdens on the riding public can be evaluated. Then we may know how many persons can afford to travel both financially and time wise.

Trying to pull together a theoretical while stuck at home... and now I don't have any schedules up on Amtrak to refer off of. They've yanked them all down and pushed up the notice, replacing the PDFs.

Anyone got a NEC schedule before the change?

...and MARC just reduced it's schedule to R-plus-extras for the forseeable future, so the NEC got a bit quieter.

SEPTA's going with their Severe Weather plan, which is Saturday-plus-extras.

MBTA is reducing as well. All three effective Tuesday.

No word from NJ Transit, NY Metro-North, LIRR, or Metra...

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/ ... e88cd.html

Amtrak to suspend train service in Lancaster County Wednesday as riders avoid transportation hubs amid COVID-19 fears... including the trip to Pittsburgh

https://www.amtrak.com/alert/nec-modified-schedule.html

Updates to Service
March 16, 2020, 6:00 pm ET

While Amtrak continues to operate across the nation, we have adjusted some services due to significantly reduced demand in key markets.

Northeast Corridor: The Northeast Corridor will be operating approximately 40% of typical weekday schedules. Northeast Regional and Acela service will still operate between Boston, New York, and Washington and Northeast Corridor services that extend into Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, Vermont, and other states will continue to operate but with some reductions in frequencies for certain markets referenced below.

Keystone Service: In coordination with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, all Keystone Service is suspended as of Wednesday, March 18, and all Pennsylvanian trains as of Thursday, March 19.

Amtrak Hartford Line and Valley Flyer: The Amtrak Hartford Line and Valley Flyer Service are operating on a Saturday schedule on a daily basis.

New York State Service: Starting Tuesday, March 17, all Maple Leaf, Adirondack, Empire Service, and Ethan Allen Express are operating on a reduced schedule, with no service to Canada.

Cascades: The Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, BC is closed. As a result, Amtrak Cascades service north of Seattle is suspended until further notice. Daily thruway bus service between Seattle, Everett, Mt. Vernon and Bellingham will still operate.

Amtrak Downeaster: Service is being reduced on a temporary basis between Tuesday, March 17 and Sunday, March 22.

Winter Park Express: The Winter Park Express is cancelled for the rest of the season.

Adirondack is basically cut. It’s essentially running as a NYP - ALB Empire Service train.

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 2:45 pm Trying to pull together a theoretical while stuck at home... and now I don't have any schedules up on Amtrak to refer off of. They've yanked them all down and pushed up the notice, replacing the PDFs.

Anyone got a NEC schedule before the change?

This will get you to the PDF schedules, at least for now...

https://www.amtrak.com/schedules

EDIT the PDF links still redirect to the alert page. I'll see if I can figure out the link to the PDF's

My wife and I were thinking of taking the NEC from Boston to Richmond, using our Rewards points, in early April, before all this COVID-19 stuff broke. Amtrak coaches have more fresh-air circulation than airplanes, I would think, but we decided it would be better to drive than share a coach. So that's our plan now, but with all heck breaking lose I'm wondering if by then we'll even find gas stations and motels open. /LEJ