Railroad Forums 

  • Amtrak Express suspended as of Oct 1 2020

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1549736  by STrRedWolf
 
R36 Combine Coach wrote: Fri Aug 07, 2020 10:37 pm
Gilbert B Norman wrote: Thu Aug 06, 2020 11:39 am But back on the rails, one must wonder; couldn't the entire V-II order just be some kind of "trap" to set Amtrak up for "some kind of investigation" during Trump's second term?
The delays date back to 2013-2015. After the 70 baggage cars were delivered and accepted in 2015, the assembly line in Elmira seemed to have slowed down. The shells for the diners and some early sleepers were actually built in 2012-2013, but not assembled completed until long afterward (2018 for the diners). The baggage cars were the only portion of the fleet delivered on time.


And who would do such investigation, OIG or DOJ?
DOJ, because Barr.
 #1549833  by Tadman
 
STrRedWolf wrote: Sat Aug 08, 2020 11:06 am
R36 Combine Coach wrote: Fri Aug 07, 2020 10:37 pm And who would do such investigation, OIG or DOJ?
DOJ, because Barr.
I don't see that. He has much bigger fish to fry and this is not normally the material the AG would take on.
 #1549865  by R36 Combine Coach
 
Looking at the Amtrak Express service guide (1/13 edition), only some stations (mostly major cities) could handle heavy loads including pallets up to 500 lb (HEX or heavy express): BOS, PVD, NWK, PHL, BAL, WAS, RVR, RGH, CLB, JAX, ORL, TPA, ATL CLT, GRO, BHM, NOL, ALB, BUF, PGH, CHI, MKE, OMA, WIN, MSP, DEN, SEA, PDX, SPK, OKJ, LAX.

But there were some commercial shippers with open credit accounts regularly delivering heavy loads on trains up to recently. The limited service for HEX really only makes this useful between major cities. It might be more useful for smaller LD communities. When Greyhound discontinued service in Western Canada, some local businesses in smaller communities had issues, as they relied on Greyhound's daily schedule for timely deliveries that
were unmatched by other carriers.
Backshophoss wrote: Sun Aug 09, 2020 2:33 pm Might be useful for bulk mailed adverts that are not time sensitive, A good chunk moves as Intermodal loads done by the postal contract Trucking Co's.
That's exactly what the MHCs carried in the 1990s: mostly carload bulk USPS (second and third class, such
as periodicals and commercial mailings). Also 12/13 carried first class/overnight mail between New York and
New England.
 #1550082  by urr304
 
IIRC, the MHC got the freight railroads riled up. Back to what was earlier stated, what are we subsidizing: passengers or packages?

Anyway, I was just checking and a lot of Amtrak services do not have checked baggage, so how would they handle package express? In fact, currently no baggage service between NY-Boston without the overnight train running, nothing between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh directly [NCB on Pennsylvanian]. Lots of other pairs of cities without baggage service, so where would the packages go?
 #1550121  by Arborwayfan
 
Amtrak Express (the individual package kind, not the mail or the big lcl shipments in the mail and express initiative days) was only ever handled between staffed stations that hosted trains with baggage cars and handled checked baggage. And not even all of those stations handle express, IIRC.
 #1550136  by R36 Combine Coach
 
Arborwayfan wrote: Wed Aug 12, 2020 1:21 pm Amtrak Express was only ever handled between staffed stations that hosted trains with baggage
cars and handled checked baggage. And not even all of those stations handle express, IIRC.
And even so certain trains could not handle certain loads: the coach-baggage Superliners on the Portland branch of the Builder (and Texas Eagle until 2015) cannot handle palletized freight or human remains. Local stations on the Surfliner and San Joaquin cannot either, with the Caltrans fleet only including coach-baggage cars or NPCUs.
 #1573448  by electricron
 
lensovet wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 4:53 am Has anyone heard anything about this service returning now that LD service has been restored to daily as of this week?
Which service are you specifically asking about?
I assume express services will resume on the NEC when ridership data suggest there are enough passengers going all the way to support it.
 #1573488  by daybeers
 
electricron wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 8:02 am
lensovet wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 4:53 am Has anyone heard anything about this service returning now that LD service has been restored to daily as of this week?
Which service are you specifically asking about?
I assume express services will resume on the NEC when ridership data suggest there are enough passengers going all the way to support it.
Amtrak Express was a freight service provided on certain routes at certain stations using the baggage car. Another option besides the major carriers like UPS, FedEx, or hiring a moving company.

I haven't heard anything but I honestly was planning on using it next time I move a substantial distance, so I was really sad to see it go away. I haven't heard anything about restoration.
 #1573493  by R36 Combine Coach
 
Indeed many used express service for moving (same with Greyhound package express). Some stations
also could handle human remains shipments (in caskets or shipping containers). The selling point is
frequent, 7-day service vs. irregular weekly schedules (by demand) of LTL truck carriers.
 #1573521  by lensovet
 
electricron wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 8:02 am
lensovet wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 4:53 am Has anyone heard anything about this service returning now that LD service has been restored to daily as of this week?
Which service are you specifically asking about?
two other people already answered but really, how hard is it to look at the topic that's being replied to? :laughing:

a simple google search would also work, as this is the top result for amtrak express: https://www.amtrak.com/express-shipping
I honestly was planning on using it next time I move a substantial distance
indeed this is my interest as well, as that time might be happening quite soon for me.
 #1573530  by kitchin
 
R36 Combine Coach wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 6:00 pm Indeed many used express service for moving (same with Greyhound package express). Some stations
also could handle human remains shipments (in caskets or shipping containers). The selling point is
frequent, 7-day service vs. irregular weekly schedules (by demand) of LTL truck carriers.
I'd guess both Greyhound and Amtrak Express are all about oversized packages, as well as fast ground delivery. It's hard to ship a big suitcase or trunk by UPS. As for LTL, right now it's expensive, and you have to palletize, or at least places I work for on other business always do. You also have to use a broker (many available online) because the list prices are multiples of the actual cost you should be paying. It's not so fast, unless you pay for a hot shot. Over about six pallets you could be into small container territory, which is also currently expensive and not suitable for for many customers.

So yep, Greyhound and Amtrak are the consumer-friendly alternatives, from what I could tell on a recent move. I ended up using UPS for household goods, and USPS for books and printer matter. I used extra-strength moving boxes from Lowes. Tightly packed and strongly taped, but I still had one book box almost burst. UPS is always right on time, while USPS comes in as it feels like. Also the postal clerk could hardly lift the small, heavy book boxes I was shipping, and her coworkers wouldn't help her. Truck rentals are expensive now too. The cost would have worked out slightly higher with fuel I estimated, and was not as good for other reasons.

We had negotiated rates at UPS through a small business, but the cost differential (vs. going to the UPS store to pay) for a small shipper is not nearly as great as using LTS without a broker.
 #1573591  by STrRedWolf
 
Yeah, with UPS you got to box and ship your stuff. Same with FedEx. Some companies will help you move with them as the back-haul provider. Some (like PackRat and PODS) will let you pack and secure a small container, and they'll haul it to the destination.

My guess is that Amtrak (and Greyhound) had to reallocate staff and the easiest pool was to suspend shipping services.
Last edited by nomis on Mon Jun 14, 2021 8:47 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: Removed unnecessary quote