fairviewroad
Engineer
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- Jan 13, 2011
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A late-night freight derailment last week (early May 2018) caused extensive damage to the NEC tracks between Philadelphia and Wilmington. This section is owned by Amtrak. SEPTA uses it for its commuter rail service between PHL and Wilmington/Newark, DE.
With two tracks out of service, Amtrak is allowing SEPTA to resume service but under a limited schedule. According to SEPTA, to offset the reduced service, Amtrak is cross-honoring SEPTA tickets between Philadelphia and Wilmington. Normally when Amtrak cross-honors commuter tickets, it is only for monthly passes. In this case, Amtrak will also honor regular tickets. This means that for under $7, you can ride Amtrak on this segment. The Amtrak ticket that would normally set you back $23 (advance purchase) or as much as $70 walk-up.
It's not clear whether Amtrak will cross-honor on Acela...I suspect not. I also haven't seen any official communication from Amtrak on this...so buyer beware. This arrangement will also end once the track repair is completed, but it sounds like that could be several weeks.
With two tracks out of service, Amtrak is allowing SEPTA to resume service but under a limited schedule. According to SEPTA, to offset the reduced service, Amtrak is cross-honoring SEPTA tickets between Philadelphia and Wilmington. Normally when Amtrak cross-honors commuter tickets, it is only for monthly passes. In this case, Amtrak will also honor regular tickets. This means that for under $7, you can ride Amtrak on this segment. The Amtrak ticket that would normally set you back $23 (advance purchase) or as much as $70 walk-up.
It's not clear whether Amtrak will cross-honor on Acela...I suspect not. I also haven't seen any official communication from Amtrak on this...so buyer beware. This arrangement will also end once the track repair is completed, but it sounds like that could be several weeks.
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