Amtrak Proposes Adding New Service to Scranton

[Matt Johnson]

Amtrak proposes adding passenger train route to Scranton

[Rockingham Racer]

The article talks about Amtrak's "improved finances". Obviously written before the pandemic set in. And what route would they take leaving New York ? I can't think of any
on the east side of the Hudson.

[photobug56]

What do you mean? Penn NYC would be the only place that makes sense.

[Ken W2KB]

The article talks about Amtrak's "improved finances". Obviously written before the pandemic set in. And what route would they take leaving New York ? I can't think of any
on the east side of the Hudson.

It would utilize the existing New Jersey Transit route used by Midtown Direct trains from NY Penn west to Newark, and then either the electrified or diesel route to the Cutoff. See: https://d2g63oyneaimm8.cloudfront.net/s ... em_Map.pdf

[Ken W2KB]

Amtrak proposes adding passenger train route to Scranton

This proposal is consistent with those who suggest that Amtrak's mid to long term plan is to eliminate long distance trains and concentrate on existing and new corridor service.

[photobug56]

That may be, but it makes sense multiple ways. From my view, I think back several years ago when one of my kids was going to school in Alfred NY - we live on Long Island. When she would come home for a holiday, it was a very long set of bus rides. And a lot of Long Island and NYC area students go to school in that area. Plus I'm from Scranton, still go there once in a while, and a lot of kids from this area go to school in Scranton and in Binghamton, then there are the Pocono resorts, skiing, etc. And that ignores the daily commuters in that corridor.

[ExCon90]

What's needed is a fast route from Dover to NYP, and there isn't one. The Morris & Essex is congested (but will it be when we reach whatever the "new normal" turns out to be -- who knows?), and while the middle track will help, threading the needle for a Dover-Kearny Jct. nonstop among all the MUs will require a degree of operational precision -- every day -- that we've never quite mastered. The Boonton Line has a lot of single track, and there will be no speed records set through the Montclairs. The Merchants Express apparently did OK in its day, but there was no I-80 then.

[photobug56]

At some point it makes more sense to find a way to snake in more rail capacity than more road capacity. Then again, there's also a need to find a way to make NJT more capable of running a railroad.

[pateljones]

I am very curious about the cost of the tunnel work - I would not at all be surprised if the cost is $15 million to $20 million. We shall see soon.

[scoostraw]

Special Update #7: Politics and the Cut-Off - Election 2020
Link: https://youtu.be/A4CBrxLVw7k

[mtuandrew]

I’ve seen a few comments about how slow the NJT Montclair-Boonton Line is, and how it would impact express Cutoff service. It isn’t slow enough to warrant a Newark bypass via the Erie Boonton Line, is it? Genuinely not interested in igniting a railfan dispute here, since I have a feeling this is a sore subject

[ExCon90]

I think the point here is that the Boonton Line wouldn't be any faster because it has its own share of curves, and some single-tracking besides. Because of the rerouting through Montclair (from ex-Erie Greenwood Lake to ex-DL&W Montclair Branch), joining the Morris & Essex just west of Newark, you wouldn't skip Newark. (I think there's also a NIMBY-pacifier agreement limiting the number of trains allowed through Montclair but don't know whether that's still in effect.) The real problem with the M&E is that an eastbound Amtrak would have to be scheduled out of Dover immediately ahead of a local to avoid catching up with the preceding local. If Amtrak is more than a few minutes late into Dover it's going to leave behind the local instead of ahead of it, making it easily 15 to 20 minuets late into NYP, and commuters can't live with that happening once a week or so. Somebody with a 9 o'clock meeting won't chance the train and will just drive in a little earlier than usual.

[amtrakowitz]

The real problem with the M&E is that an eastbound Amtrak would have to be scheduled out of Dover immediately ahead of a local to avoid catching up with the preceding local. If Amtrak is more than a few minutes late into Dover it's going to leave behind the local instead of ahead of it, making it easily 15 to 20 minuets late into NYP, and commuters can’t live with that happening once a week or so.

…Amtrak? There was never any project on the boards having Amtrak operate service into northeastern PA, just to reiterate. It was all supposed to be NJT under contract to whatever regional operating authority were to oversee such service. Also, none of these trains were to run into NY Penn, but Hoboken.

[photobug56]

In modern times, Hoboken never ever made sense. And there could be both NJT and Amtrak depending on the service. Amtrak could go much farther North, and into the Southern Tier and west. And if both were part of the rebuild maybe double tracking, etc.

[mtuandrew]

…Amtrak? There was never any project on the boards having Amtrak operate service into northeastern PA, just to reiterate. It was all supposed to be NJT under contract to whatever regional operating authority were to oversee such service. Also, none of these trains were to run into NY Penn, but Hoboken.

Amtrak recently threw itself into the mix:

Amtrak proposes adding passenger train route to Scranton