Taking Amtrak to the Berkshires (and an alternative)

Chatham is mentioned in the Connects plan, and with the increase in Albany-Boston to 2-3tpd I think (also mentioned in the MassDOT studies) - Chatham might see a renaissance.

Living not so far, I would keep driving to Hudson though. Hudson to Chatham via Albany is kinda nuts. And it's all of 15-20 mins drive. But on the other hand, the service might need Albany for viability - at least for the next 10 years.

Still, a great development. I wish it could be a little quicker from Albany to Pittsfield - would benefit many. And working towards a Sat service (round trip) would be good next. And potentially onwards to Springfield? if useful.

Eight passengers? Who's in charge of marketing this white elephant? Maybe they should market it as a tourist train that happens to pick up commuters too. You can't advertise in newspapers because they don't exist and even if they do nobody reads them. And if I look for the online edition of the newspaper it is behind a firewall or I'm blocking the ads from the third-party brokers...

Eight passengers had missed the train due to malfunctioning departure boards and were placed on the Lake Shore Limited to catch up. I believe there were 63 passengers in total coming into Pittsfield.

I wish the Amtrak website let passengers know that there was capacity available after a certain point (for example, after Poughkeepsie or after Albany).

That being said, hopefully at some point, the Massachusetts east-west rail project gets rolling (and considers an extension west of Pittsfield) so that people can come and go at a moment's notice, rather than using a once-a-week train that may be sold out. (Which is another issue with Amtrak in general...they should really reconsider their no-standees policy on the Empire Corridor. Doesn't the Keystone allow standees?)

This sounds like it's going to be just as successful as the short-lived Las Vegas Limited that ran during the summer of 1976 on a weekend-only schedule. In other words, a total failure.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas_Limited

I believe this past Friday there were only 30 and once the novelty wears off there will be few and far between. Perhaps I will be proven wrong but..

Why aren't the Powers That Be advocating for the return of the Cape Codder? I would think that would be more popular. What was that ridership number? I do hope this service is successful however. The more train service the better .

Also concerning the question above, Vermont's plan is for a second Burlington train via North Bennington and also for one of them to continue to Essex Junction to meet the Vermonter (Montrealer?).

bostontrainguy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 17, 2022 8:22 am Why aren't the Powers That Be advocating for the return of the Cape Codder?

Off topic, but isn't there a weekend "Cape Cod Flyer"?

Or did that get the "COVID Scrub"?

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Sun Jul 17, 2022 8:41 am

bostontrainguy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 17, 2022 8:22 am Why aren't the Powers That Be advocating for the return of the Cape Codder?

Off topic, but isn't there a weekend "Cape Cod Flyer"?

Or did that get the "COVID Scrub"?

You're talking about the CapeFLYER which is operating. https://capeflyer.com/

I am puzzled. What do I do when I get to Pittsfield?

nkloudon wrote: ↑Sun Jul 17, 2022 12:20 pm I am puzzled. What do I do when I get to Pittsfield?

Most people are probably being picked up by someone with a vehicle. Other options are detailed on this page.

https://berkshires.org/plan-your-trip/h ... ire-flyer/

bostontrainguy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 17, 2022 8:22 am Why aren't the Powers That Be advocating for the return of the Cape Codder?

A very good question.

So, how many hundred boarded the train yesterday for the return to Gotham?

Is it possible that passengers going to stations between NYP and Albany booked up all the seats before potential Pittsfield passengers even realized the train existed? Should Amtrak restrict a certain number of tickets on each train to people going to Pittsfield, and then a few hours before departure release any of them that aren't sold for shorter trips? Should Amtrak offer discounted tickets from intermediate stations along the Hudson to Pittsfield, to encourage people to fill up seats vacated by people who just rode from NYP to one of those stations?

Where to advertise? To reach the crowd that lives along the Hudson, advertise in Penn Station, in Grand Central, and in shared Amtrak-Metro North stations along the route to Pittsfield. To reach the crowd that lives in Manhattan with no car, advertise in subway stations--maybe try to guess which subway stations get a lot of passengers with the money and free time to take a weekend or a week in the Berkshires--busy ones that lead to lots of office jobs? Maybe there's a website or a blog devoted to living without a car in NYC--they would be good to contact for "earned media" attention. Posters on the campus of Columbia and whatnot--places where there are people without cars but with some free time and sometimes with some money.

First we need to conjure up a viable reason why somebody would want to go the long way to Pittsfield via Rensselaer from NYC.