Last Friday I rode the Pennsylvanian from New York City to Greensburg. It was a good experience.
I had a business class seat. It was comfortable and, equally important, the car was clean as a whistle when I boarded the train at PennsylvaniaStation. We departed right on time. And so as to not keep anyone in suspense, we arrived in Greensburg on time.
The boarding process at Pennsylvania Station is a bit strained. People begin to line up near the annunciator board about 30 minutes before the track is posted, which is usually 10 - 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time. Then there is a mad rush, at least on the part of the coach passengers, to get to the gate and on to the train. Amtrak could improve this process by adopting a procdure similar to the one used by Southwest Airlines - passengers get a boarding pass by group and board in groups.
From New York to Philadephia passengers ride backwards. No big deal for me, but several people found it a bit disconcerting. The reason is because when the train arrived at 30th Street Station, the electric locomotive is taken off the front of the train, i.e. as defined when it leaves NYC, and a P42 is put on the back of the train, which then becomes the front of the train.
The crew on the train was pleasant, helpful, and courteous. The conductor went out of her way in Lancaster to help several older folks off the train. Equally cheerful and helpful was the cafe car attendant. He greeted everyone who came into the car, at least on the three occasions that I was there, and served them promptly. For the most part he is on his feet from New York to Pittsburgh. He must be tired when he gets to Pittsburgh.
I had a turkey and cheese sandwich. It was very good. It was better than anything that I have gotten in the full service dining cars on the Texas Eagle and Sunset Limited. I also had a small bottle of red wine. The sandwich was $8
I have had many pleasant Amtrak trips over the years. The Pennsylvanian is one of my favorites. The problem is, like with anything else, you only hear about the bad from the press, not the good. The one person stabbed on the NYC Subway makes a much better story than the millions that ride safely each day. Thank you for a positive story. And I agree with you about Horseshoe Curve. Long live the PRR!
The load factor in the business car appeared to be between 70 and 80 per cent. A substantial number of people were going to Western Pennsylvania (Latrobe, Greensburg, Pittsburgh). They had just returned from a cruise.
West of Harrisburg the load factor appeared to drop to 40 to 50 per cent. In FY13 the average load factor on the Pennsylvanian was 64.7 per cent.
I saw only three people get off in Altoona. As noted I grew-up in Altoona. During my last year in high school (1957) there were 38 passenger train movements a day through Altoona. As I remember it hundreds of people from or near Altoona rode the trains daily. Now there is 1 or 2 depending on whether you count the Pennsylvanian as one train or as one west and one east.
One of my most pleasant trips in recent years was aboard the Capitol Limited in 2008. I rode westbound on Thanksgiving Day. Ridership was low, since travel on the holiday itself is usually light. The dining car served fresh carved turkey breast, mashed potatoes and all the fixings. A great meal on a spcial day. After a nice night in my sleeper, I spent Black Friday “shopping” for trains at the Homewood, IL railfan park and getting together for a bit with a friend who lives outside Chicago. I reboarded the Capitol that night for the trip home and gave up my sleeper at Pittsburgh to transfer to the Pennsylvanian for the ride over the former PRR and Horseshoe Curve in Business Class back to NJ. A fabulous way to spend a long holiday weekend.
Sounds like a great trip. Imagine the Pennsylvanian was hanging on by a thread until the govern Corbett finally cough up pa portion of the trains expenses.
According to my brother, who lives in Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania was on the chopping block, but the Pennsylvania legislature came to the rescue in the nick of time. The annual cost to the state is approximately $5.5 million. The train lost $5.2 million in FY13 before depreciation and interest.
Unmentioned in my previous post is the scenery along the way. East bound or west bound, it is great. In addition to the Horseshoe Curve, one can view the Conemaugh Valley, Logan Valley, Juniata Valley - the train runs along the Juniata River for a considerable portion of the trip, and the Amish Country - not an official designation - near Lancaster. I find central and western Pennsylvania to be every bit as beautiful as Colorado, etc. This is especially true in the fall when the foliage is changing or has changed.
One other aspect of the scenery that I failed to mention is the view on the right hand side of the westbound train of the Susquehanna River as the trains crosses the Rockville Bridge.
You are essentially correct. At the major stations and/or terminals that I have used, i.e. Pennsylvania Station, 30th Street Station, Union Station in Washington, Los Angeles Station, etc. people begin to line-up approximately 30 minutes before train time, unless they are sleeping car passengers, in which case they know what space they will occupy. It is a scramble for coach passengers.
At stations like San Antonio, Austin, Temple, etc. people usually line-up on or near the platform, whereas at the large stations mentioned above they usually line-up in the waiting area. At San Antonio passengers are forced to line-up outside of the station. The boarding process is supposed to begin at 6:45 a.m., but I have seen it put off until just five minutes before the Texas Eagle’s 7:00 a.m. departure time. I have seen as many as 25 to 30 passengers in line as early as 6:30 a.m. And if the connecting cars off of the Sunset Limited are running late, the situation becomes intolerable, since there is frequently not enough room in the station to accommodate the passengers for the Texas Eagle and the eastbound Sunset Limited. Not a good outcome if it is cold and raining.
I recommended several years ago to Amtrak’s senior management that they should adopt a reserved seating system. They pushed back saying in so many words that it was too complicated. I found that hard to understand, especially in the computer age, since I remember assigned seats on the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Ai
Fortunately, if the Governor says black, the PA Legislature (same party-Repub) says white. Corbett is going to be history, anyhow, so the next chapter is yet to be written.
Be that as it may, PA has many older folks who don’t care to brave the Turnpike.
With Corbett gone maybe we can see an empire service train extended to Erie or even better to Cleveland. The nyc-erie- cle corridor needs daylight service.
What is Governor Corbett’s view re: expanding passenger rail? What was his stance on finding money for the Pennsylvanian, which costs the PA taxpayers approximately $5.5 million per year?
Corbett’s views may be irrelevant. Fitch, S&P, and Moody’s have down graded their ratings of Pennsylvania’s debt. According to Fitch, a structurally unbalanced budget, depleted reserves, and rapidly growing public pension benefits were the major reasons for the ratings down grade.
Approxmately seven per cent of PA’s budget is being covered by one-offs, i.e. federal monies for an expanded Medicaid Program, and will not be a continuing source of funds. PA’s debt burden and unfunded pension obligations, according to Fitch, totals 9.8 per cent of the state’s 2013 personal income, which places it above the national average.
I rode the Pennsylvanian many times while employed by PC. Its evening departure from 30th Street (in the early 70s) and early morning arrival in Pittsburgh (a few steps and an elevator ride to my office) made it very convenient for returning from meetings in Philadelphia. My pass allowed me a roomette and familiarity with the porter allowed me a few minutes extra sleep. The extra sleep was needed after staying up half the night learning all kinds of things from the crew’s war stories.
The first year state of Pennsylvania support for the Pennsylvanian actually turned out to be $3.8 million. $5.5 million was the initial number mentioned by the state and Amtrak. Since the Pennsylvanian’s ridership and ticket revenues were up 5.9% and 9.7%, respectively, in FY2014 (ended 9/30/14) over FY2013, the state subsidy should be less than $3.8 million for FY2015. Western Pennsylvanians for Passenger Rail (WPPR) played an important grass-roots role in maintaining the train. A report developed by Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, in collaboration with WPPR, that reviews the estimated costs and benefits of operating three daily Pittsburgh-New York trains over the route of the Pennsylvanian is posted on WPPR’s website, www.wpprrail.org.
The Pennsylvanian lost $5.2 million in FY13 before depreciation, interest, and miscellaneous charges according to Amtrak’s audited financial data.
Since Amtrak has not released audited financial information for FY14, I presume your numbers are taken from press releases or another source.
Whether it cost PA $5.2 million or $3.8 million, a state that is facing some of the cost constraints as the Commonwealth needs to be mindful of how it spends it taxpayer dollars.
My response was to a previous post suggesting, by implication, that PA should fund improved service between Buffalo, Erie, and Cleveland. Just where would it get the money was the gist of my point.
Perhaps from the latest 10 cent gas tax which is suppose to fund road repairs, transit issue and other transportation issue. Pennsylvania already funds the rail service. Perhaps an investment in nw pa would help stimulate the local economy instead of all our tax dollars for transportation going down state.