Keystone 649

[benjibear]

Anyone know why there is such a long layover in Philadelphia on this train? It is scheduled to arrive in Philly at 4:10 but doesn't depart until 4:45. That is 35 minutes. Other weekday westbound trains have a delay of between 10 and 15 minutes. Why is this train have over twice as much time in Philadelphia compared to the others?

Looking at weekday eastbound trains there are a couple in the 20 minute range but again most are around 15 minutes or less.

If one were to ride that train, there is enough time to get off and go into the station to get something to eat. Leave a bag or coat on your seat so you don't have to worry about finding the mad boarding rush.

 

[Oreius]

This is most likely due to the fact of a crew change. From what I've seen, the Conductors on the Harrisburg to Philly portion get off (not sure if the engineer does or not). My guess is the train stays longer in Philly to wait for the new crew to take over for the New York leg of the trip.

 

[fairviewroad]

You're right, that is a long time. Even the Pennsylvanian makes the "turn" in less time (30 minutes).

My speculation (based purely on hunch) is that they don't want it to depart Philly earlier than 4:45 in order

to snag more PM commuters. I would assume at that time of day there's a big difference in demand between

a train that departs at 4:45 and a train that departs at, say, 4:25. The previous Keystone departs at 3:45 so

they probably want to maintain an hour's separation.

Of course that begs the question of why they don't just have it depart from NYP later in order to minimize the

PHL layover. That I don't know, except it may have to do with slot availability in the New York area. Perhaps it

isn't feasible for it to leave NYP 20 minutes later w/o sacrificing a more "valuable" train.

 

[fairviewroad]

This is most likely due to the fact of a crew change. From what I've seen, the Conductors on the Harrisburg to Philly portion get off (not sure if the engineer does or not). My guess is the train stays longer in Philly to wait for the new crew to take over for the New York leg of the trip.

First of all, the train in question is traveling in the other direction. But more importantly, that theory doesn't explain

why this train's layover is 35 minutes whereas (as the OP stated) most Keystone trains have much shorter layovers

(10-15 minutes on average).

 

[Oreius]

I recently rode Train 671 from NYP to ELT. We actually arrived in Philly 10 minutes early, and had a layover of about 45 minutes. I did not go up to the station Concourse, because I didn't want to be stranded in Philly overnight. I did, however, get off and walk around the platform.

 

[Acela150]

647 departs at 345. It's simply cause they want to keep an hourly schedule west of Philly.

 

[fairviewroad]

647 departs at 345. It's simply cause they want to keep an hourly schedule west of Philly.

Except the next departure after 649 is at 5:35. I agree they probably want an hour of separation between

647 and 649. But the Keystones definitely don't have an hourly schedule over the course of the day.

 

[Acela150]

647 departs at 345. It's simply cause they want to keep an hourly schedule west of Philly.

Except the next departure after 649 is at 5:35. I agree they probably want an hour of separation between

647 and 649. But the Keystones definitely don't have an hourly schedule over the course of the day.

They are close to hourly. Rush hour starting with 647 they run hourly. IIRC the only hour that doesn't have a train to HAR is the 2pm hour. East and West.

 

[Anderson]

There's a similar situation in WAS with the Regionals headed into VA. In general, it takes 30-ish minutes to do the engine switch per the timetable...but 125 holds at WAS for 56 minutes so can depart as close to 4 PM as possible (and therefore do a 4 PM pickup at L'Enfant Plaza and about 4:15 at ALX). Note that this is different from the NB holds, which are mostly to facilitate WAS-NYP timekeeping.

 

[Andrew]

What about when a train gets delayed?

 

[the_traveler]

Then the "layover time" is most likely reduced, and it still can depart near the scheduled 4:45.

 

[ronkstevens]

There is an express SEPTA train that leaves at 4:15, then a local at 4:25. 649 leaves at 4:45, then another express at 4:48 and a local at 4:51

 

[Acela150]

It doesn't really have to do with Septa to an extent.. The only way Septa trains come into this are Slots. The express train at 415 and 448 are Express to Bryn Mawr and run the local track all the way. 513 and 612 are the only express trains to Paoli. Those trains will run the Express track to Paoli and then switch over. Keystone service is unaffected by Septa Trains most of the time.