The End of Clockers is Near

All for freeing up the coaches - but will Amtrak have the brains to put them to good use? That's the million dollar question.

SEPTA and NJT are no picnic and a lot longer trip than a Clocker. For those that can, people will likely shift to Regionals if they formerly had monthly AMTRAK monthly passes and took the Clockers.

With the kind of fare increases that Amtrak is laying on the monthly riders, this probably will not be much of a problem. They will be switching to the SEPTA/NJT combo anyway.

"It's not just NJT riders that are losing out here. Amtrak monthly ticket holders from Philly north will be affected. And the Regionals, which are already flooded with monthly ticket holders during rush hour, will get even more crowded as a result of terminating the Clockers - unless a REGIONAL train is added to help alleviate Philly to NYP during rush hour."

It appears likely that the private club car will be a thing of the past.

An excerpt from an article in the Oct. 13 NY times:

"The switch will result in an even greater lifestyle change for about 75 members of a privileged group that calls itself the 200 Club. They travel in a private car attached to clocker trains, the only coach of its sort on the Amtrak system.

An Amtrak spokeswoman said that the 200 Club would go the way of the clockers, unless New Jersey Transit was willing to make room for it. Mr. Stessel's response: "We don't do that sort of thing.""



http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/13/nyreg ... ansit.html

pennstation wrote:"Mr. Stessel's response: 'We don't do that sort of thing.'"

Which is amusing, and flat-out wrong, because they do exactly that sort of thing with a car on the North Jersey Coast Line.

NJT makes a pretty penny off the Club car on the North Jersey Coast Line...something that shouldn't be dismissed.

NJT doesn't want to dedicate one set of equipment for this group, and they won't want to drill the car out each day to put it on the various pieces of equipment which will run as the clocker's replacements.....

The train with the NJCL Club car makes 2 trips a day - one inbound, sits in Sunnyside yard, then runs outbound and sleeps in Long Branch yard all night - NJT won't do that with another trainset

OK, explain this to me like I'm a 2-year-old...

1. Say I want to buy a single, unreserved ticket on an Amtrak train from 30th Street, Philadelphia, to Penn Station, New York. Does the end of Clocker service mean this will no longer be possible?

2. Is there any chance that Septa would compensate for the loss of the Clockers by running an express or two between Philly and Trenton? (The last Septa local I took was passed enroute by a 3-legged mule pulling a wagonload of bricks.)

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Side note... During the 1980s, when I went to NYC more regularly than I do now, my buddies and I used to refer to the Septa-NJT route as "The Prison Train." First, because it passed Holmesburg on the Septa leg and Rahway on the NJT leg (2 well-known prison towns). And second because one felt like a prisoner during the nearly 3-hour ride.

We also used to joke that half the barflies at the station in Trenton were people who just got stuck after missing their connecting train and in despair turned to a life of drink.

The Clockers were a savior then. Sad to see 'em go.

* * *

-Urban

1. Say I want to buy a single, unreserved ticket on an Amtrak train from 30th Street, Philadelphia, to Penn Station, New York. Does the end of Clocker service mean this will no longer be possible?

From what I have heard, even the Keystones will be reserved on the NEC.

What does reserved mean on Amtrak, exactly? Does it simply mean you have to buy your ticket before boarding the train? Can you walk up to a ticket counter and say, "I'd like a ticket for the next train to wherever"?

Urban D Kaye wrote:OK, explain this to me like I'm a 2-year-old...

2. Is there any chance that Septa would compensate for the loss of the Clockers by running an express or two between Philly and Trenton? (The last Septa local I took was passed enroute by a 3-legged mule pulling a wagonload of bricks.)

-Urban

SEPTA and Express? The two words typically are not uttered in the same sentence. I unfortunately do not think SEPTA will do this, but they should. It would appear to me that several stations on the R7 have pretty poor ridership numbers.

hsr_fan wrote:What does reserved mean on Amtrak, exactly? Does it simply mean you have to buy your ticket before boarding the train? Can you walk up to a ticket counter and say, "I'd like a ticket for the next train to wherever"?

A reserved ticket means that only so many tickets will be sold. Supposedly this is too reduce overcrowding, and garentee that everyone will have a seat. (Yeah Right) An unreserved train means that you still have to buy a ticket, but they will sell past the train's capacity. Also, reserved tickets are less flexible then unreserved tickets. Meaning that it is harder to change what train you want if you change plans.
The Keystones will be reserved on the NEC from New York to Philadelphia. Philadelhpia to Harrisburg remains unreserved.

Urban D Kaye wrote: The Clockers were a savior then. Sad to see 'em go.

-Urban

Same applies today - the Clocker Amfleets were more comfortable and provided faster through service from NYP to PHL (and points in between) than transferring from SEPTA to NJT in Trenton

NJ Transit's new bilevels would be perfect for taking over NYP - Philly Clockers. It would be nice if they could arrange to at least maintain a couple of runs down to Philadelphia.

Only way they will go to Philly is if PENNDOT opens their wallet and pays their fair share per miles of PA operations.

crazy_nip wrote:its about time, let those commuters ride commuter trains paid for by their state...

Those people who were using the clockers (I did occasionally) were paying for them, thank you very much.