My home station is NYP so anything that presents more options there benefits me personally, but without solid data and projections, I can't say definitively that it is good for Amtrak.
Second Sleeper Added to the Cardinal in 2 Weeks?
- Thread starter SubwayNut
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If the Cardinal's "end to end" ridership from NYP-CHI is only 2% if we add in PHL-CHI to the mix its probably still not more than 3% .When we have taken the Cardinal to from PHL -CHI (based on three summer trips), the amount of people boarding at PHL were maybe a dozen. The assumption is that the trains serves the folks in the middle of the route best. For Cardinal to ever be attractive as an end to end train, the time of the trip needs to be shortened and pricing brought in ln-line (especially in the sleepers) with other E-W routes to Chicago. IMO, the Cardinals sleeper prices are outrageous and its not just when one sleeper is on the train. You also pay the highest price and receive sub par quality food to boot. There may not be a solution for improved speeds but there might be one to get the pricing adjusted when new equipment become available. .
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Sadly this is where Amtrak has finally pretty much lost me. Even when we took numerous long distance trips around 5 years ago the cars, service, toilets, diners were all pretty much well below any normal expectation when paying the fares which even then were high. I have a very good friend who uses Amtrak far more than I, but he recently took it to New York from St. Louis. His comment was the Eagle was very satisfactory but that the LSL was the worst train he had ever taken. No help, lousy diner and poor service. And for that the rates are even far more than we paid on the LSL years before. And the train was highly unsatisfactory then. What rail company worth its salt would say that an amfleet diner is a lounge car? Or that the sleepers bedrooms were so noisy you could hardly talk over the slamming and banging doors. Most of which had Duct tape on them attempting to keep them somewhat more quiet. The roomette I had the curtain was falling off most of the hooks to the point that using the toilet in the room was nearly impossible without risking being accused of being a flasher. Now the CNO I take occasionally and several others have had the diners removed with no cut in cost to travel. The Santa Fe was right, amtrak has no idea what rail service is supposed to be about.
I've ridden the LSL quite a few times, but not since the diner drop. I have not experienced poor service, but some of the VL cars have appeared worn down and a bit shabby, some were pretty good, but showing there age. The rates are high, I have occasionally opted to take a NER to WAS to pick up the CL based on pricing. But the train is very heavily booked, sleepers often sold out. So exactly what is the motivation to improve? New cars (probably not enough, but that is a different topic) are already ordered, there arrival will eventually take some pressure off the VL sleeper availability and ability to refurb situation, diners should be back. Service consistency in all areas of the company is the single issue most directly addressable, equipment and pricing improvements can not make up for spotty service.
west point
Engineer
The MPR mentions that only 2 V-1 sleepers are in the Beech Grove at any one time so at least 48 are supposed to be available for service.
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Are there any protects? They would be in service, but not on a train....there are 50 VL1 sleepers, 25 is the VL2 number. To the best of my knowledge current assignments are:
LSL 3 sets of 3 (incl BOS) 9
CR 4 sets of 2 8
SM 4 sets of 3 12
SS 4 sets of 2 8
CD 2 sets of 2 (peak only) 4
That would be 41 in use (I might have SS + SM reversed, or just wrong)
LSL 3 sets of 3 (incl BOS) 9
CR 4 sets of 2 8
SM 4 sets of 3 12
SS 4 sets of 2 8
CD 2 sets of 2 (peak only) 4
That would be 41 in use (I might have SS + SM reversed, or just wrong)
west point
Engineer
Corrected my post. So with 2 at Beech that will leave 7 as protect or surge demand. Sure seems like 25 V-2s not enough during surge time. Well maybe 2 additional V-2s sleepers on each of LSL, Crescent, SM, SS would take 20. And if 1 V-1s each to LSL & SM it would work if no sleepers go out of service ?
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It is just speculation at this time.... as an example, if you had a daily Cardinal, it would likely be 4 sets, also, the 10 bag dorms will eventually show up, if a bag dorm went on one of the LSL branches, would you free up enough revenue rooms to add 1 not 2 sleepers? Would you add a through sleeper to the Penn to connect to the CL? or convert the CL or CONO to VL altogether? Anybodies guess.....
That would be a big plus, thanks....
brianpmcdonnell17
Conductor
I certainly support through cars from the Pennsylvanian to the CL, but that does not require the entire CL to become single-level. What exactly is the benefit of converting either the CL or CONO to single-level? All the stations on both lines are equipped with low-level platforms (WAS has both types), and in my experience most passengers seem to prefer the bi-level equipment. The sightseer lounge adds a lot to the experience, and the size of a Superliner Coach makes it feel more roomy than single-level equipment. Although the sleepers may be nicer in Viewliners, a relatively small number of passengers travel in sleepers. This could explain the bias towards single-level equipment in this forum, as most members travel overnight in sleepers, whereas this is not true of the general population.
To address the advantage of the Superliner Sightseer Lounge: single level lounges do exist with wraparound windows. VIA uses them between Edmonton and Vancouver while their Canadian traverses the Rockies. [Yes, they still add and drop cars mid route up there.] The Alaska Railroad also has some. I've ridden in both, but there seems to be a drawback to them: during times of high heat, the air conditioning had a hard time keeping the car cooled on the Canadian at the end of May. It was not a problem on Alaska in early September. In my view, these cars would be a plus on the Lake Shore Limited, the Cardinal, and the Capitol Limited, were it to be converted to a single-level train. Shorter distance trains such as the Adirondack and the Vermonter could also use one. All this, of course, presupposes that there are funds to purchase such equipment, and because of that, I think we all know that the chances of getting these cars on Amtrak is zero to none in the foreseeable future,
The benefit of converting one of those trains is in freeing up the equipment to be used elsewhere. And yes, a modern single level lounge would be a huge plus if made available.
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