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PennDOT official: Pennsylvanian hard to justify
Since when does travel time have anything to do with trains. If you want to get somewhere quickly, 9/10 times the train is not the fastest. The Post-Gazette left out the part that this is the cheapest mode of transportation between PGH and HAR.
Since when does travel time have anything to do with trains. If you want to get somewhere quickly, 9/10 times the train is not the fastest. The Post-Gazette left out the part that this is the cheapest mode of transportation between PGH and HAR.
Unbelievable. I understand that there’s a lot of financial issues involved, but it’s getting to the point of why bother. Shut it all down except for the NEC, and call it a day.
I recall reading recently in Trains that Amtrak is considering rescheduling either the Pennsylvanian or Capitol Limited (or both?) for better connections in Pittsburgh. That might be the saving grace. Otherwise, given PA’s current political situation, PennDOT is probably rubbing its hands in eager anticipation of this scrapping. Intercity bus service to Tyrone, Huntingdon and Lewistown isn’t great, and air travel out of these isolated places means hours of car travel.
The Amtrak system outside of the NEC is under assault. I urge all to take action.
I suppose it would be cheaper to widen the highway? What rock did Penn-DOT spokeswoman Erin Waters-Trasatt crawl out form under? With oil companies playing games with the fuel prices
We need to save Amtrak 42&43 to Pittsburgh, Pa. We need to write to Harrisburg to save the train.
The geography of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has always been a challenge for settlement and transportation. Many of us would, of course, miss passenger trains over Horseshoe, but we have to remember that the Pennsylvania Railroad was not built, primarily, to service Tyrone, Lewistown, and so on; rather, its main purpose was to divert traffic coming from Ohio and Indiana to Philadelphia and away from Baltimore, whose own B&O was threatening to reach Pittsburgh. Most of PRR’s passenger traffic over Horseshoe back in the heyday of the Pennsy consisted of Blue Ribbon overnight trains from New York and Washington to Chicago and St Louis and other Midwestern cities. That some of them stopped in Tyrone was just convenient for Tyrone, but hardly the main mission of the PRR.
Anyway, this part of Pennsylvania has been emptying out for two generations, of both population and economic activity. And the local transportation infrastructure reflects that. The Pennsylvanian might truly be superfluous, as much as it grabs my gut to say it. The twisting, winding Pennsy main is OK for freights, although I doubt it will ever compete very much for freight requiring very short transit times (the old EL probably would have been better for that—at least UPS appeared to have thought so for a while).
Finally, although NS still does run a lot of freight over that line, the main passenger routes in the East are to New York or Washington via, respectively, the NYC and the B&O mains. Nobody seems to want to go to Pittsburgh much, or at least spend 5.5 hours doing so from Harrisburg.
Let me know if I’m wrong. I hope I am, but that seems to me to be what’s going on here now.
The geography of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has always been a challenge for settlement and transportation. Many of us would, of course, miss passenger trains over Horseshoe, but we have to remember that the Pennsylvania Railroad was not built, primarily, to service Tyrone, Lewistown, and so on; rather, its main purpose was to divert traffic coming from Ohio and Indiana to Philadelphia and away from Baltimore, whose own B&O was threatening to reach Pittsburgh. Most of PRR’s passenger traffic over Horseshoe back in the heyday of the Pennsy consisted of Blue Ribbon overnight trains from New York and Washington to Chicago and St Louis and other Midwestern cities. That some of them stopped in Tyrone was just convenient for Tyrone, but hardly the main mission of the PRR.
Anyway, this part of Pennsylvania has been emptying out for two generations, of both population and economic activity. And the local transportation infrastructure reflects that. The Pennsylvanian might truly be superfluous, as much as it grabs my gut to say it. The twisting, winding Pennsy main is OK for freights, although I doubt it will ever compete very much for freight requiring very short transit times (the old EL probably would have been better for that—at least UPS appeared to have thought so for a while).
Finally, although NS still does run a lot of freight over that line, the main passenger routes in the East are to New York or Washington via, respectively, the NYC and the B&O mains. Nobody seems to want to go to Pittsburgh much, or at least spend 5.5 hours doing so from Harrisburg.
Let me know if I’m wrong. I hope I am, but that seems to me to be what’s going on here now.
I see clueless libtards on here! holy cow!! you are so uneductaed and so misinformed idiots!! mega bus has 5 to 7 buses per day , depending on the day , that go between these 2 cities at a much cheaper rate and can do it faster and more cost efficient !! why would the state pay millions? can you clowns answer me that? beuhler ? beuhler? theres also bus connections at harrisburg to other cities at much cheaper rates than amcrap . and have more frequency . forget the pennsylvanian folks . to much money you idiotic morons!! learn how to educate your selves before you open up your mopuths on here and look stupid
The money that Amtrak receives annually in subsidies is, in reality is a BARGAIN compared to other modes of tranportation. Where do get off on killing our passenger service, John W Regan? I suppose you still believe that it’s cheaper to give each and every Amtrak rider an airline ticket just like Ronald Reagan tried to get the American people to believe.
Has any one considered the idea of the state engaging a short line railroad to operate this train west of Harrisburg? A short line railroad could provide this service at a far lesser cost than Amtrak. Airlines do it all the time a la Mesa, Republic, Air Wisconsin, etc. And class I freight railroads have done it very successfully with short line railroads. A train is much more comfortable than a bus and many passengers simply won’t switch from rail to bus.
@MATTHEW BRANDLEY - That was a hilarious impersonation of a right wing nutcase (a little over the top perhaps, take a look at Guse’s style for an example of the breed.) I loved the part where your character couldn’t tell the difference between a bus and a train. You should be on TV.
My family traveled to the Midwest from Lancaster Pa last year. We did not want to change trains in Pittsburgh at 4 AM or 4 hour layover. We drove to catch the Chi-Washington DC train in WV.
Connection in Erie sounds very good.
Down the road when gasoline and diesel fuel is $8 a gallon.Then people will wise up and it will be to late
Down the road when gasoline and diesel fuel is $8 a gallon.Then people will wise up and it will be to late
I like the concept of extending it to St Louis, if the economics are reasonable. I realize other modes are subsidized too, and I am not against train subsidies, but if we add services that require extreme subsidies, that gives Amtrak’s critics ammunition.
The least expensive way to extend it would be to combine with the Capitol Limited or the Lake Shore Limited. A seperate train to Chicago would probably be less expensive than to St Louis because there would be no additional station costs, and may generate more revenue due to the connections available at Chicago.
On the other hand, a service to St Louis could be scheduled to be in Indianapolis at the same time as the Cardinal. Pennsylvanian passengers could conect to Chicago and Cardinal passengers could connect to St Louis. Interconnectivity increases ridership and revenue for all trains involved and doesn’t add much cost.
The Broadway Limited used to be a crack train between NY and Chicago through Phila. and Pitt. with sleepers. Amtrak scrapped that train in favor of the Lake Shore Limited. Both trains could have continued to thrive. I never quite got terminating the Pensylvanian at Pittsburgh- difficult for through passengers to deal with the connections there.
Leave the Capital Limted as it is- the connections between Washington and Chicago work well (at least east to west). West to east works well for connections coming in from the west coast. All’s well that ends well.
I rode from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and back. I would rather go by train than car. A lot of nice scenery along the way that you would not see by car. I would ride the train every time. Please do not let this ride end.