SoCal

Planning on taking Amtrak from New York Penn to Baltimore next Tuesday. All of the Northeast Regional trains listed have red indicators,and advisory saying that they will be subject to delays due to signal work etc. No such indicators for the Acela trains. I phoned Amtrak and they say there are no such planned delays for Acela trains that day (same thing on other days in the near future). Could this be? We're arriving at JFK, and flights to BWI (Baltimore is a last-minute addition due to needed health exams) are very expensive and almost all with connections.


p.s. sorry, couldn't find how to delete. Checked further and found delays are only between Alexandria and Ridchmoned, thus no effect on Acela. We'll likely take a regular train but maybe biz class after 24 hours of travel. International flight arrivfes at 6:20a.m. May for 12:30 train. Likely taxi from JFK (not Air Train, etc.; I know my wife).

lo2e

While you found the specific answer for your case, it's not unprecedented to have NERs have delays but Acelas not due to giving top priority to Acela to try to keep them as on time as possible. This is so that it doesn't appear as though someone paid extra for Acela but it took just as long as an NER to get to their destination, which would easily drive people away from Acela.

mapletree

+1. Always see delays on NER, but Acela tends to be better protected.

hi55us

+1 The Regionals frequently suffer delays in order to prioritize the Acela. Hence why Train #94 was on time only 18.2% of the time in June

nerd

Is that true -- that this train was delayed to prioritize the Acela?

It doesn't seem so. The table shows that source of most of the delays was on the Newport News - Washington segment, which is not served by Acela.

OZ Man

My issue is if they hold 494 or not. It is so frustrating to get to new Haven to find your train left on time before 94 or their is a 2 hour delay and sit in the WORST train station ever with sabaro's crappy pizza because you can't leave to find they might have 494 run and accommodate customers for 94 on 148. I have mentioned this to Amtrak several times their needs to be better communications for 494's Connection. maybe one year we get a lounge in New Haven I can dream right?

physioprof

I'm confused. You are saying that it is frustrating to get to NHV late and find out that your train left on time?

UPDATE: Maybe I'm understanding better: You are saying that sometimes a departing train is delayed to allow you to make your connection when your incoming train is delayed, but sometimes it isn't?

hi55us

I ride it frequently and it is often held right at NYP for #2170 to depart (#94 leaves at 5:42, #2170 is at 6:00). Then #2172 usually catches up to it at Kingston or Providence and it is held for him to pass. I usually get off at Providence and it's usually a mess with #67, #94, #2172 and usually an MBTA Local from Boston all arriving at the same time on the stations 4 tracks.

The statistics on the website state the following:

Train Interference: 40.8%
49.6% on CSX Corporation
33.8% on Amtrak
16.7% on Metro-North Railroad

Track and Signals: 26.6%
61.9% on CSX Corporation
35.8% on Amtrak
2.3% on Metro-North Railroad

Passenger: 11.1%
54.3% on CSX Corporation
40.5% on Amtrak
5.2% on Metro-North Railroad

Therefore, to tabulate the delays by railroad:

CSX =

61.9% x 49% = 20%
62% x 26% = 16%
54% x 11% = 6%

This totals 42%. So 58% of the time the delay is either on Amtrak or Metro North. I wonder how the schedule padding works into the delays, since Amtrak gives #94 Padding at Washington and New Haven (a whole 10 minutes that I've never gotten to see).

hi55us

I agree and frequently even on the train the passengers are told that yes there will be a connection at NHV, but the crew doesn't know if it's 494 of 148. I would just book #148 if it's a comparable price, you'll get a cafe car and a lot more space on a full size regional train.

nerd

No - it is not the case that 58% of of the delays are on Amtrak or Metro North - the numbers don't add up to 100%.

The page lists the top three categories of delays, which total 78.5%. The majority of those delays (42%) occur on CSX.