Silver Service from WAS to Philly/NYP doesn't exist?

[RCrierie]

The official timetables show that the Atlantic Coast Service trains (92 Silver Star / 98 Silver Meteor) etc go to NYP and 30th Street station after leaving DC; but when I try to book a trip on them via Amtrak's website, all I get for WAS to NYP are Acela, Northeast Regional, and Vermonter.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

The Silvers only discharge passengers north of Richmond, VA.

 

[Guest]

The timetable shows those stops as "discharge only."

There are numerous other trains between DC and NYC.

92 and 98 can sometimes run late, so as Amtrak would rather divert passengers to the more frequent and reliable NEC trains. Also, 92 and 98 take longer between DC and NYC because of lengthened dwell times for checked baggage service.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

The timetable shows those stops as "discharge only."

There are numerous other trains between DC and NYC.

92 and 98 can sometimes run late, so as Amtrak would rather divert passengers to the more frequent and reliable NEC trains. Also, 92 and 98 take longer between DC and NYC because of lengthened dwell times for checked baggage service.

Another reason they only discharge is so they can leave stations north of Richmond before the time shown on the timetable - if they are running early. This does happen on occaision!

 

[HoosierStater]

This is common on long distance trains running on the Northeast Corridor, including the Cardinal and Crescent. They only drop off passengers northbound and pick up southbound. Since the NEC has service much more frequent than on most long-distance trains, so generally someone travelling on the corridor only can usually find a train to take without using a long-distance train.

The reasons mentioned above are valid. In addition, it means that there is more room for the long-distance passengers. By not allowing passengers to board from WAS to NYP, the space is available for someone travelling from, say, Miami to NYP, who will pay more for their ticket.

 

[pennyk]

The timetable shows those stops as "discharge only."

There are numerous other trains between DC and NYC.

92 and 98 can sometimes run late, so as Amtrak would rather divert passengers to the more frequent and reliable NEC trains. Also, 92 and 98 take longer between DC and NYC because of lengthened dwell times for checked baggage service.

Another reason they only discharge is so they can leave stations north of Richmond before the time shown on the timetable - if they are running early. This does happen on occaision!

The last few times I traveled from ORL to WAS on 98, we arrived early!!

 

[jphjaxfl]

The procedure of having long distance trains discharge northbound and receive southbound between New York and Alexandria was in place for many years prior to Amtrak. This allows for a much more efficient operation. On my recent trips on the Silver Meteor and Silver Star, norhbound trains have arrived in Washington early so I am sure they arrived in New York even earlier than the scheduled. When I lived in Atlanta and took the Crescent northbound if the train left Atlanta on time, it was mostly always early into DC and even earlier as it progressed up the corridor. The long distance trains south of Washington, DC have some of the best patronage in the system.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

Another reason they only discharge is so they can leave stations north of Richmond before the time shown on the timetable - if they are running early. This does happen on occaision!

Over the years, I have learned to have contingency plans for various amounts of being late. The one time the Silver arrived early, I suddenly found I had no contingency plans for that. :giggle:

We ended up having to simply wait in the Club Acela.

 

[Anderson]

I've seen the doors blown off the timetable going northbound more than once...arriving an hour early is not impossible if you've got a light checked baggage load and the engine transfer goes quickly. It can, however, be obnoxious for a sleeper passenger who was hoping for dinner before WAS.

 

[jphjaxfl]

An early arrival in Washington is much preferred to an Amtrak breakfast or dinner. There are plenty of great restaurnts in Washington.

 

[fairviewroad]

An early arrival in Washington is much preferred to an Amtrak breakfast or dinner. There are plenty of great restaurnts in Washington.

...and I'm sure most of them would be happy to give you a free meal once you show them your sleeping car ticket stub!

 

[Bob Dylan]

An early arrival in Washington is much preferred to an Amtrak breakfast or dinner. There are plenty of great restaurnts in Washington.

...and I'm sure most of them would be happy to give you a free meal once you show them your sleeping car ticket stub!

:lol: Word of Advice: When heading for WAS and Points North, bring plenty of $$$ or Credit, the Resturants and Hotels are High Bucket!!!(unless you stay and eat @ Ryans House! :lol: :lol: :lol: )

 

[RCrierie]

Another reason they only discharge is so they can leave stations north of Richmond before the time shown on the timetable - if they are running early. This does happen on occaision!

On my trip north on 11 JUL, my train arrived in ORL an hour late; but by the next day, we were running only 15 minutes behind by the time we pulled into Union Station DC (well maybe 20 minutes given the slowness of switching into WAS)

 

[Chatter163]

Same with southbound Silver Service between West Palm Beach and Miami, due to the presence of Tri-Rail trains along that corridor. They are discharge only.

 

[jis]

:lol: Word of Advice: When heading for WAS and Points North, bring plenty of $$$ or Credit, the Resturants and Hotels are High Bucket!!!(unless you stay and eat @ Ryans House! :lol: :lol: :lol: )

Or unless you know a few low bucket but excellent food places frequented by the locals

 

[afigg]

The last few times I traveled from ORL to WAS on 98, we arrived early!!

Does Amtrak have Ahead of On Time Performance category? :lol:

The end point OTP performance table in the May 2011 monthly report has a lot of red entries for worse OTP than last year. It is worth noting that in the LD train group for the first 9 months of the FY, the 3 LD trains doing better than FY10 are the Palmetto at 83.5% (+16.2% since FY10), the Silver Meteor at 82.0% (+7.7%) and the Auto Train at 91.2% (helps to have only 2 stops). The Silver Star is down to 70.4% (-8.8%) so it is running into some holdups. Still, either CSX is being very nice to Amtrak or the route to Florida is in good enough shape that Amtrak should eventually consider shaving some padding from the schedule south of Richmond.

The Carolinian OTP is at 67.3% which is up 16.0% over last year, which is a marked improvement, but obviously has room for improvement.

The Acela OTP through May is 83.8%. So, the Palmetto and the Silver Meteor (and the SWC and SL) have around the same OTP as the Acela which is not too shabby. Which says something about the need for more investment in the NEC, but that is another topic. The poor Cardinal and Empire Builder are not having good years for OTP.

 

[Anthony]

:lol: Word of Advice: When heading for WAS and Points North, bring plenty of $$$ or Credit, the Resturants and Hotels are High Bucket!!!(unless you stay and eat @ Ryans House! :lol: :lol: :lol: )

Or unless you know a few low bucket but excellent food places frequented by the locals

There's always the Union Station Food Court. ;-)

 

[rrdude]

:lol: Word of Advice: When heading for WAS and Points North, bring plenty of $$ or Credit, the Resturants and Hotels are High Bucket!!!(unless you stay and eat @ Ryans House! :lol: :lol: :lol: )

Or unless you know a few low bucket but excellent food places frequented by the locals

There's always the Union Station Food Court. ;-)

Although Anthony stated this Tongue-In-Cheek, there are some reasonable places (both in terms of food & price) at the lower-level food court.
Certainly not "gourmet", but choice is good.......

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

Stay on the train past Washington, to eat breakfast. Get off at the first station after you finish eating, and buy an Amtrak NEC ticket back to Washington. :wacko:

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Another option is 'drinking' breakfast in the Capitol City Brewing Company pub, which is conveniently located in the old Post Office building, across the street from WAS/US, as many members here know from experience! :giggle:

 

[cirdan]

Stay on the train past Washington, to eat breakfast. Get off at the first station after you finish eating, and buy an Amtrak NEC ticket back to Washington. :wacko:

I've actually done that