Railroad Forums
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ebtmikado wrote:I am wholly supportive of extending SLE service to New London, but that 18 mile stretch from Old Saybrook to New London with no other stops, makes it so impractical.I believe a South Lyme station is in the planning stages, though there hasn't been any news on it in awhile. A station at Niantic near the center of town is a no-brainer and can/should be done without a parking lot given the easy accessibility to the town (and the beach as you pointed out) by foot from the tracks as well as the already dense amount of car traffic in that area during the summer.
Parking in New London is difficult (the garage is a bit of a distance away). Connection to all 3 ferries is convenient.
There should be at least 3 other stops: Old Lyme, Rocky Neck State Park (the train is right next to the beach), East Lyme & Niantic. Quite probably, a stop should be made in Waterford.
Of course, where will the many millions of dollars for stations come from? Most of the Shore Line East stations have platforms on only one side, severely restricting the service.
Lee Carlson
fl9m2004 wrote:I'm in favor of Shore Line East to New London on weekendsConsidering the difference in ticket prices I don't think Amtrak will have to say a word
Maybe Amtrak should tell New London passengers to get on Shore Line East
Then ridership for weekends to New London will go great
Speaking of Shore Line East any gp's recently in service
Seen 6694 recently
If anything the cost of Amtrak to OSB and NHV (plus the reservation requirement) keeps potential commuters/day trippers away from Amtrak for local travel. F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:All the current weekend service is a waste. OSB doesn't have enough trains there to make it make any sense. The need 30 minute headway, otherwise it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. They need to get SLE bidirectional and electrified before they talk about service expansion. And the current service to NLD is a complete waste. When they have bi-directional electrified operation and intermediate stations, it will make sense. The MBTA should also electrify the Boston-Providence route, but that's a whole different story, and a little more complicated than the SLE, which only has a couple of sidings that don't currently have wires.ThirdRail7 wrote:I don't think there are any crossovers between the Groton Industrial Track and Westerly, so without a new one installed Amtrak's not going to be enthused about the schedule penalty of turning back wrong-rail at Mystic. Besides, if RIDOT gets South County commuter rail down to Westerly CDOT has put in the State Rail Plan that it wants to take SLE there for a direct transfer. Amtrak is due to renovate that station into a 3-tracker in anticipation of RIDOT stopping there, and there's a layover yard attached to it that makes an ideal turnback. RIDOT's proceeding fairly deliberately with its buildout. I don't think we'll be waiting past 2020 for the opportunity. The capital costs would be very little for CDOT because Mystic is pre-existing and Westerly + layover will be paid for by RIDOT and Amtrak. It's more or less an operating extension for CDOT, not a capital one...and RIDOT very much wants to entice them over for the beneficial transfer revenue, so the stakeholders are all willing.DutchRailnut wrote:hope the ridership is there, on days other than special events,but my hopes are not high for this service.People didn't think weekend service to OSB would catch on, but it did. The real goal should be Mystic. There are a lot of hurdles, but I think that would be a worthwhile venture.
NH2060 wrote:Well no New London weekend service (yet), but the new timetable has a number of new weekday and weekend trains added (including a New London mid-day round trip).If they go with weekend service, that means more work for the New Haven extra list (spare board) and some ca$h!
http://www.shorelineeast.com/pdf/5-18-13.pdf
As for New London weekend service, as of now the DEP still has to OK it (as mentioned in the article below). We'll see what happens.
http://www.theday.com/article/20130517/ ... 19677/1018
ThirdRail7 wrote:DutchRailnut wrote:hope the ridership is there, on days other than special events,but my hopes are not high for this service.Working in a welcome center, I am in hopes for a commuter train to Mystic. Have a CT transit bus connection to the casinos as well. Hopefully, the M8's will go from Grand Central to Mystic. IMHO this will probably also allow for super expresses from Stamford to New Haven then local to Mystic. this will attract many and help the states tourism. If CTDOT under Amtrak operation, were to continue to Westerly maybe it could connect with future MBTA trains that now continue to wickford junction.
People didn't think weekend service to OSB would catch on, but it did. The real goal should be Mystic. There are a lot of hurdles, but I think that would be a worthwhile venture.
