Why is Train 66 slower than other NE Regionals?

[the_traveler]

1342984966[/url]' post='381968']

1342984234[/url]' post='381962']Not really checked baggage. The only stations served that offer checked baggage service are WAS, BAL, WiL, PHL (on 67 only), NWK, NYP, NHV (on 66 only) PVD and BOS. Only NHV and PVD do not have other trains with checked baggage service.

That sounds like checked baggage to me......and it does generally take them a few minutes at the bag car in PVD.

What I am saying is that no other Regional or Acela thru PVD offers checked baggage service, and no LD train goes thru PVD. All the other stations have many others, except BOS which has one other and NHV which only does it for one train of of two!

And you yourself that 66 usually arrives into PVD early and must wait. So the baggage handling does not slow it down.

Plus that would have no impact on why 66 only goes under 50 mph near Davisville when other Regionals and Acels go well over 100 mph there!

 

[AlanB]

I'm going to speculate, other than schedule planning/train slotting, that it's a combination of two factors. 1) The already mentioned speed restriction on the NEC of Heritage car(s), and 2) the additional time it takes to work at those stations that 66/67 serve that handle checked bags, express, and (probably) company material.

Those are very minor considerations, at best.

The schedule for 66/67 is all about not getting to Boston/DC too early in the morning. Everything else is secondary. Even if they could run the train at 200MPH, had no baggage, or company materials they still would use the same schedule because it's all about getting to Boston/DC at a decent hour.

 

[LookingGlassTie]

That's interesting about the 66 NER being slower than other Regionals, because based on the times between NPN and RVR, it would appear to travel about as fast as the others. It is about 1 1/2 hours between the two stations.

The 66 is the train that I'll be taking to RVR to connect with the Silver Meteor for my trip to Orlando.

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

That's interesting about the 66 NER being slower than other Regionals, because based on the times between NPN and RVR, it would appear to travel about as fast as the others. It is about 1 1/2 hours between the two stations.

The 66 is the train that I'll be taking to RVR to connect with the Silver Meteor for my trip to Orlando.

It is slow between Washington and Boston to allow for acceptable calling times for both cities. There is no reason for it to be slow in Virginia. It actually makes sense that it would be scheduled faster than the other trains in Virginia, because there is more padding up the line. When I rode 66 on the night of March 11th, we left Stamford 65 minutes late due to the time change, yet still arrived at South Station 12 minutes early.

 

[LookingGlassTie]

That's interesting about the 66 NER being slower than other Regionals, because based on the times between NPN and RVR, it would appear to travel about as fast as the others. It is about 1 1/2 hours between the two stations.

The 66 is the train that I'll be taking to RVR to connect with the Silver Meteor for my trip to Orlando.

It is slow between Washington and Boston to allow for acceptable calling times for both cities. There is no reason for it to be slow in Virginia. It actually makes sense that it would be scheduled faster than the other trains in Virginia, because there is more padding up the line. When I rode 66 on the night of March 11th, we left Stamford 65 minutes late due to the time change, yet still arrived at South Station 12 minutes early.

Gotcha

 

[the_traveler]

If it didn't go slower between WAS & BOS, it would arrive at those stations at like 5 am!

 

[Anderson]

That's interesting about the 66 NER being slower than other Regionals, because based on the times between NPN and RVR, it would appear to travel about as fast as the others. It is about 1 1/2 hours between the two stations.

The 66 is the train that I'll be taking to RVR to connect with the Silver Meteor for my trip to Orlando.

NPN-RVR tends to be somewhere in the 1:30-2:00 range (with around 0:25-0:30 of that RVM-RVR to account for possible conflicts around RVM). RVR-NPN can run a hair longer than the reverse due to end-of-route padding...but also bear in mind that (1) those trains can arrive early into NPN and (2) NPN-RVM has a fast timetabled time (IIRC it's something like 75 miles in 72 minutes, with an intervening stop at WBG that can easily run 3-5 minutes if there's a heavy passenger load; though it only runs 2x daily, you will almost never beat Amtrak between NPN and WBG on the highway), though RVM-RVR makes up for it. I want to say that all of the NPN-WBG-RVM padding is dumped to RVR so the train doesn't get stuck at RVM.

 

[Triley]

That's interesting about the 66 NER being slower than other Regionals, because based on the times between NPN and RVR, it would appear to travel about as fast as the others. It is about 1 1/2 hours between the two stations.

The 66 is the train that I'll be taking to RVR to connect with the Silver Meteor for my trip to Orlando.

It is slow between Washington and Boston to allow for acceptable calling times for both cities. There is no reason for it to be slow in Virginia. It actually makes sense that it would be scheduled faster than the other trains in Virginia, because there is more padding up the line. When I rode 66 on the night of March 11th, we left Stamford 65 minutes late due to the time change, yet still arrived at South Station 12 minutes early.

My record was leaving Fredericksburg 1:55 late due to a supposed bomb scare a passenger called in on another (some lady's battery/phone case stated burning up). We left NYP less than 2 late, and were 5 minutes earlier in to New Haven.