Cap Ltd. Service Disruptions

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Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

50+ Year Amtrak Rider
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According to a couple of postings on trainorders.com ,effectiive July 19th,CSX will start Track work between PGH and WAS that will run for 13 Months :eek: , Sun-Thurs. :rolleyes:

In the event that #30 arrives Late into PGH,(due @ 4:35AM) defined as 90 minutes, ie 600AM, Pax will be Bustituted to stops between PGH and WAS with No Alternate Service for Pax in these Stops :(Connellsville/Cumberland/Matinsburg/Harpers Ferry/Rockville!)Pax in these stops will be noitified via Phone After Midnight by Amtrak! :eek:

Since #29 runs in the Evening/Night evidently it wont be affected as nothing is mentioned re West Bound! Regular Schedule will apply for #30 on Fri and Sat!

Looks like the Pennsylvanian, Cardinal and the Lake Shore might be picking up more pax for WAS, as if it wasnt already hard/expensive enough to get a sleeper on these trains! :(
 
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Martinsburg to WAS your set on Marc. But Marc doesn't run to Martinsburg that often or Harpers Ferry and Rockville. Just rush hour service. Connellsville and Cumberland your SOL! Maybe there's a bus that runs to Cumberland. Just some thoughts on Transportation.
 
jimhudson said:
According to a couple of postings on trainorders.com ,effectiive July 19th,CSX will start Track work between PGH and WAS that will run for 13 Months :eek: , Sun-Thurs. :rolleyes:

In the event that #30 arrives Late into PGH,(due @ 4:35AM) defined as 90 minutes, ie 600AM, Pax will be Bustituted to stops between PGH and WAS with No Alternate Service for Pax in these Stops :(Connellsville/Cumberland/Matinsburg/Harpers Ferry/Rockville!)Pax in these stops will be noitified via Phone After Midnight by Amtrak! :eek:

Since #29 runs in the Evening/Night evidently it wont be affected as nothing is mentioned re West Bound! Regular Schedule will apply for #30 on Fri and Sat!

Looks like the Pennsylvanian, Cardinal and the Lake Shore might be picking up more pax for WAS, as if it wasnt already hard/expensive enough to get a sleeper on these trains! :(
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The Card first has to start running again to pick up any passengers from anywhere :p

On bustitution days, I wonder how they will get the consist over to Washington to protect next day's run of 29. Maybe they'll run it down at night after the embargo is lifted. The track work is between Cumberland and Martinsburg.

Even a late 30 will take passengers to Connellsville and Cumberland, and terminate at Cumberland. And passengers destined for Martinsburg/Harpers Ferry and Rockville (and of course Washington) will be bustituted to those locations from Pittsburgh. There will be no passenger pickup from Connellsville, Cumberland, Martinsburg, Harpers Ferry and Rockville eastbound on those days, and whether there will be pickup or not will only be known on the morning of the day of travel.

Acela150 said:
Martinsburg to WAS your set on Marc. But Marc doesn't run to Martinsburg that often or Harpers Ferry and Rockville. Just rush hour service. Connellsville and Cumberland your SOL! Maybe there's a bus that runs to Cumberland. Just some thoughts on Transportation.
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Not really SOL for Cumberland. Folks from Cumberland can still get to Washington DC via twice daily Thruway to BWI.

Besides Rockville you are all set on WMATA. Why would you bother with MARC there?
 
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jis said:
Besides Rockville you are all set on WMATA. Why would you bother with MARC there?
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For the same amount of time (35 minutes scheduled) and the same amount of money ($5), I'd take the MARC over WMATA everyday and twice on Sunday (not really possible since the MARC doesn't run on the weekend, but stick with me here).

In reality, the Red Line is such a mess of sucktitude that the MARC is likely to be faster.
 
Ryan said:
jis said:
Besides Rockville you are all set on WMATA. Why would you bother with MARC there?
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For the same amount of time (35 minutes scheduled) and the same amount of money ($5), I'd take the MARC over WMATA everyday and twice on Sunday (not really possible since the MARC doesn't run on the weekend, but stick with me here).

In reality, the Red Line is such a mess of sucktitude that the MARC is likely to be faster.
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How is MARC frequency? More frequent than once per hour?
 
I'm on CL September 13 (a Tuesday) in a roomette from PG to DC. I do NOT want to trade for a bus. I'd rather drive. If offered bustitution, may I decline and still get a full refund?
 
Train2104 said:
Amtrak posted the service alert:

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Alert_C&pagename=am/AM_Alert_C/Alerts_Popup&p=1237608345018&cid=1248544069347

If delayed, the train will continue to Cumberland. I wonder why the buses aren't picking up?
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Thanks for posting the link. The Capitol Ltd from Chi to DC got into Pitts anywhere between an hour and 3 hours late during my recent Pitts to DC trips. This will be a real crap shoot for 13 months for passengers. I think I will cancel Sept 13 and go on Pennsylvanian instead--no roomettes, though. I know track work has to be done, but I just hate it when reality interrupts my fun!
 
Thanks for posting this Jim. I will be in Harpers Ferry (HFY) for about a three week period in late September-early October. Planning to return south to Atlanta (ATL) on the CL at HFY with a connection in WAS to the Crescent. Looks like I will have to return home either on a Friday or Saturday to assure my connection. Otherwise I will be SOL if the CL train is cancelled due to the track work. My only alternative is to get a neighbor or cab ($$$) to WAS for the Crescent connection. Major bummer :angry2:
 
Dovecote said:
Thanks for posting this Jim. I will be in Harpers Ferry (HFY) for about a three week period in late September-early October. Planning to return south to Atlanta (ATL) on the CL at HFY with a connection in WAS to the Crescent. Looks like I will have to return home either on a Friday or Saturday to assure my connection. Otherwise I will be SOL if the CL train is cancelled due to the track work. My only alternative is to get a neighbor or cab ($$) to WAS for the Crescent connection. Major bummer :angry2:
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If you're willing to depart at 5:51a or 6:56a, you can leave Harpers Ferry on MARC Monday through Friday. It's a bit earlier than the Cap, but at $9 it'll be cheaper than a cab.
 
Since the schedule of eastbound Capitol Limited was moved earlier in anticipation of this CSX work on May 9, 12 of 63 trips arrived Pittsburgh more than 90 minutes late and would have missed the window. If those stats hold, one train in five will miss the window and require busing.
 
PRR60 did more research than I did since I only went back to May 29th and only included the days from Sunday-Thursday. Having a reservation from Cleveland to Washington leaving June 14th, I was concerned knowing how the CL is notoriously behind schedule. However, I am somewhat encouraged as of the 33 dates I looked at, 6 would have resulted in a bustitute from Pittsburgh. Of those six, three of them came in successive days in June, 7th-9th.

Now a couple questions, if a bustitute is needed, will the buses stop at all the cities from Martinsburg on to Washington? I have been bustituted between Albany and Boston a few times and it seemed one bus was reserved for Boston passengers while another bus or two took passengers to the intermediate stops.

Another question, and it is somewhat OT, did the new timetable pad the schedule between Alliance and Pittsburgh? It seems the CL makes up between 30-45 minutes almost every trip eastbound on that leg. I've traveled the CL many times and don't remember that happening before.
 
Tracktwentynine said:
Dovecote said:
Thanks for posting this Jim. I will be in Harpers Ferry (HFY) for about a three week period in late September-early October. Planning to return south to Atlanta (ATL) on the CL at HFY with a connection in WAS to the Crescent. Looks like I will have to return home either on a Friday or Saturday to assure my connection. Otherwise I will be SOL if the CL train is cancelled due to the track work. My only alternative is to get a neighbor or cab ($$) to WAS for the Crescent connection. Major bummer :angry2:
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If you're willing to depart at 5:51a or 6:56a, you can leave Harpers Ferry on MARC Monday through Friday. It's a bit earlier than the Cap, but at $9 it'll be cheaper than a cab.
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Thanks for the suggestion. I considered this option for a nanosecond. Besides the inconvenient early morning departure times for the morning MARC service one would have to wait ten hours in WAS for the connection on the Crescent. Although I would like to depart on a Sunday, I will probably leave on Saturday to avoid the possibility of a canceled train.
 
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Can someone explain to me why Amtrak, in the case the CL is delayed, since they are running the train to CUM anyway, simply bustitute between CUM and WAS both picking up and discharging passengers. By Google Maps calculations Amtrak's plan requires 117 additional highway miles and 2:21 minutes more plus PA Turnpike tolls compared to the Cumberland option. It also avoid the middle of the night calls and potential for confusion, which seems to me like a new low.

The to bus or not to bus decision could still be made based on 90 minutes in PGH.

A few minor questions:

Why will the bus discharge but not pickup passengers?

The train will stop to discharge passengers at Connellsville but not pick them up. Why not pick up someone wanting to go to Cumberland? Would the conductor really refuse boarding to someone with a ticket to Cumberland?

I can't find where the service alert mentions passengers boarding in PGH. If they are going past CUM, will they get that middle of the night call? If they are going to COV or CUM, will they be able to board?
 
PaulM said:
... If they are going to COV or CUM, will they be able to board?
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No. Even though the train will run as far as Cumberland, it will not allow passengers traveling from Pittsburgh to Cumberland to ride the train. It does not make even the slightest bit of sense, but that is what Amtrak is saying, right now.

From the Service Alert:

If Train 30 is delayed, it will stop to discharge passengers at Pittsburgh, Connellsville and Cumberland, where the train will terminate. The train will stop to discharge passengers only. Passengers may not board at theses stations.
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PRR 60 said:
PaulM said:
... If they are going to COV or CUM, will they be able to board?
Click to expand...
No. Even though the train will run as far as Cumberland, it will not allow passengers traveling from Pittsburgh to Cumberland to ride the train. It does not make even the slightest bit of sense, but that is what Amtrak is saying, right now.

From the Service Alert:

If Train 30 is delayed, it will stop to discharge passengers at Pittsburgh, Connellsville and Cumberland, where the train will terminate. The train will stop to discharge passengers only. Passengers may not board at theses stations.
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I missed that. I agree it makes no sense.
 
[RANT]

As nasty as this situation is for through passengers from Chicago to Washington, consider the plight of passengers holding reservations on #30 from points east of Pittsburgh. Here are the kind words being given to those poor folks:

If Train 30 is delayed arriving at Pittsburgh, service will be cancelled at Connellsville, Cumberland, Martinsburg, Harpers Ferry and Rockville and alternate transportation will not be provided. If the train is cancelled, passengers boarding at these stations will be contacted by phone early in the morning (after midnight) on the day of their scheduled train departure.
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Are they kidding? Someone could be holding a through ticket from Cumberland to Miami on 30 and 97 connecting at WAS, and sometime "early in the morning" of the day they are leaving, Amtrak could call and say, "tough luck, here's your money back, you're on your own, have a nice day." Some group of suits at Amtrak's headquarters got their little heads together and came up with that one?

Here's what should be happening. If the train is late and and misses the window, buses will cover all stops for both arriving passengers and boarding passengers. Cumberland people would show up at the station and either a train or bus would show up. Either way, they get to their destination. You can't tell people that they should sit and wait for a early morning phone call, a call that would come literally a couple of hours before departure, to find out if their travel plans have been ruined or not. Oh, wait. You can. Amtrak's doing it.

Lets hope that someone at Amtrak has a speck of grey matter and changes this plan. If not, maybe Congressional micro-managing is not so bad after all.

[/RANT]
 
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I agree that this seems like a terrible idea. I was dumbfounded when someone posted a link to the Amtrak service advisory on Facebook yesterday. If the bus has been contracted to stop to discharge passengers along the route, then it should pick up passengers too. If Amtrak doesn't want to do that, then they should not sell tickets from the affected stations on the affected days. Many unfortunate people will probably book trips without clicking on the link to the service advisory and might even sleep through the middle of the night phone call. This is the sort of bone-headed move that makes it easy for Amtrak's foes to argue that train service in the US should be privatized. I realize that there are times (floods, fires, bridge collapses, tragic accidents, etc.) that Amtrak does not have the amount of time or the resources to react in a customer-friendly way. But this is a situation that they had at least some time to prepare for, and it is taking place over the course of a year, involving a train feeding directly into the Northeast Corridor, Silver Service, and other southern routes. This sort of thing makes it hard to keep defending Amtrak to my friends and family.
 
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I think it makes no sense to book a 4:45am train from Pittsburgh to Cumberland in the first place, but that's just me.
 
A couple of years ago I was booked on the Cardinal from Indianapolis to New York.

It was in February and while I was in Indy, there was heavy snow on the east coast.

I contacted Amtrak to confirm that the Cardinal was in service and was told Yes.

What they didn't tell me was the train was terminating in Huntingon, WV without

any further arrangements!!

Luckily, I phoned Amtrak and found that they had rebooked me via the Hoosier State

and Lake Shore Limited.
 
Why don't they move the departure time from Chicago up by one hour (temp.) to avoid all the bustitutions.?
 
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