Thanks for the information, Henry.
I find it interesting that the PATH trains are heavy rail.
I know Newark Lightrail is, as its name says, light rail. However, it does use a pantograph to pick up its electric power. Do you know what the considerations for this may be instead of using a traditional trolley pole? Perhaps higher voltage than in a traditional trolley car?
I’m not that technical. But I would guess a pan is more stable than a trolley pole, can be automatically controlled for raising and lowering. For starters. PATH is heavy rail because it runs trains rather than cars, complete with conductor(s) and a motorman on a private right of way, and signaled …again for starters.
OK, Henry. I see what you’re saying. Now if only you know how to get the fare back to 25¢.
John
I remember the nickle fare on the Tubes and the subways…er, and trolley cars.
And uses equipment with train doors so crew members can walk the length of the train, and uses high-level platforms. But the main thing is all-private-right of way and grade separated at that!
But there are plenty of Amtrak stations without high level platforms. Sometimes there is no platform at all.
Amtrak is not a rapid transit system it is a passenger railroad, the step above rapid transit.
Certainly Amtrak is a passenger rail system. However, it also operates commuter service under contract with some states so I think there is an overlap here.
No doubt you know that back in the days when Amtrak operated Clockers a few of them provided commuter service in New Jersey. That agreement fell apart. However, I think it was good for Amtrak. Even though NJT fares are a lot lower than Amtrak fares Amtrack still got a lot of regular riders for seats that otherwise would have been empty and even carried standing passengers. I commuted on Amtrak trains. I liked them better than I like NJT (although the new NJT double deckers are almost as good).
Back in the 30’s my grandfather who was an artist for vaudeville show houses was forced to work in Philadelphia…had to take the LIRR from Jamaica to Penn Sta then the PRR to Philadelphia and back every day for the better part of a year! He made good money, as my mother used to tell us, bringing $300 to $500 home each week, so the sacrifice of commuting to Philly was no hardship as long as he could read his Daily News and snooze Oh, yeah, the reason I mention this is because he rode the Clockers, of course.
Of course the Amtrak ride vs commuter coach ride is different with fewer but more comfortable seats, better trucking and cushioning of the ride, etc. When we do Ridewithmehenry trips to Poughkeepsie we take the Amtrak up and MNRR down for time and comparison…Also have done Amtrak up to Stamford for ConnDot rides, too. Haven’t had enough gold in the purse to do Acela yet, especially to Philly but hope to soon.
,
Your father had a long commute, Henry. I reverse commuted between Trenton and Hoboken for a while. That was enough for me. It was comfortable enough. I got a lot of reading done and had coffee on the train. But it does take up a lot of time.
Amtrak coach seats are more comfortable than the old Pennsylvania commuter seats but Pennsy was pretty comfortable too. The reading lights and trays are the big improvement.
However, I’ve been noticing that on Amfleet cars the upholstery is wearing out. After a while they aren’t as comfortable. Other than that the cars are OK.
I’m too frugal to ride Acela. If time were more important I would but it isn’t that important to me.
Out of curiosity I checked the fares between Newark Penn and Philadelphia. For Wednesday, January 30 the morning Acela fare Newark to Philadelphia is $97 a little after 10, 11 and 12 noon. That is the cheapest. Higher fare Acelas are $161.
Morning Northeast Regional trains are a lot less, $36 one way. Again, that is the cheapest Amtrak fare.
The Acela is more expensive but not impossible. On the return trip a person could economize by taking SEPTA to Trenton and New Jersey Transit to Newark.
And Acela fares east of NY are lower I think.
By east do you mean toward Boston?
I went back and checked again. Amtrak Acela for Wednesday January 30 in the morning is $70. The Northeast Regional fare is $27. Again, it would be possible to return by Metro North via Grand Central Terminal.
Yes. I use railroad directions. All west of the Hudson away from the Hudson to Albany, Port Jervis, Hackettstown, Gladstone, High Bridge, Princeton, and Bay Head are railroad direction west. From GCT, to Poughkeepsie and Wassaic are old school railroad westbound but MNRR northbound; CT destinations are all east and always have been. All LIRR out of NYP, LIC, and Brooklyn are eastbound. From Philly to Atlantic City is southbound.
You can follow railroad directions as: odd number trains are westbound or north bound’; even numbered trains are eastbound or southbound. There are exceptions and weird situations, of course, but these are the rules of thumb. Up here in BIngahmton the D&H was a north-south railroad and all others east-west. Any D&H train from Albany to BInghamton was southbound and Binghamton to Albany was northbound. There was, however, a D&H train which was designated a southbound because it went to Sayre, PA. It was a westbound train on the Erie then an eastbound train on the Lehigh Valley from Owego, NY to Sayre, PA, then returned westbound on the LV to Owego, eastbound on the Erie to Binghamton but still carded as a northbound on the D&H. The LV carded a similar turn train with the same directional designations as Sayre was west of Jersey City and away from Sayre all was westbound. These were freight trains, mind you. But if you look at a passenger train timetable you can see the train numbers and determine the railroad direction…and usually the actual direction, too.
Amtrak fares are demand marketed…the closer to departure, the fewer remaining space, the more costly the ticket. Six months out you can get a good price, six minutes out you shovel out a lot… The problem my ridewithmehenry trips have with Amtrak is that often we don’t know sometimes until a week or less before hand or the weather or something else at the last minute could cancel the trip…
I find that what is important is to book 14 days or more in advance. But given the nature of what you do I don’t know if that is possible.
Depends if I feel like gambling and risk swallowing the loss if I book too far in advance. Or gamble that there is space that morning. But if I do book Amtrak in advance, those I book for have to pay me in advance, too.
One minor correction: In Chicago, we call it the “L”, not the “El” or some other term invented by unknowing outlanders.
In New York before there were subways there were elevated railways. There are still some. The name was shortened to “El” and is pronounced like the letter “L.”
Originally elevated trains were pulled by steam engines. They could not possibly have been put in tunnels.