7 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

Not promoted in print or online timetables but there in the inventory is a Thruway connection that provides service to York, Reading, Pottstown, and Norristown.    It connects to the Keystone Service and Pennsylvanian at Lancaster.   
 
York-Lancaster-Reading-Pottstown-Norristown:  8046, 8048, 8050, 8052 weekdays and 8022, 8024, 8026 weekends.
 
Norristown-Pottstown-Reading-Lancaster-York:   8147, 8149, 8151, 8153 weekdays and 8023, 8025 weekends.

[jis]

Is there a single place where all the Thruway services are listed?

[KevinKorell]

Is there a single place where all the Thruway services are listed?

Well, Jishnu, there kind-of is.  Now I'll be the last person to self-promote, but there is this.

[KevinKorell]

Update:

 

The above Thruway bus runs (operate by Bieber Tourways) do not begin nor end in Norristown.  They originate or terminate in Philadelphia (Greyhound Terminal, but also make a stop at 30th Street Station).  So if you start in York, PA, you can change to a Keystone Service train in Lancaster, or remain on board past Norristown into Philadelphia, and then change to a train there. Likewise, one can connect to these buses in Lancaster, but they can also do so in Philadelphia for a longer bus trip. The station in Norristown is the same transportation center that hosts the SEPTA regional rail line and the Norristown High Speed Line, so there are 2 rail options to get there besides the Thruway bus.  But only the latter can be booked totally through Amtrak.

[KevinKorell]

Found another one!  Another Amtrak secret revealed!  I feel like a tabloid reporter.    There is now a Thruway connection serving Pennsylvania points west of Harrisburg at times when the Pennsylvanian is not running.  The bus connects with Keystone Service trains at Harrisburg.  The bus makes stops at the Altoona and Johnstown Amtrak stations, stops in Latrobe, PA at a station not shared with Amtrak, and serves Pittsburgh at the Greyhound Terminal, which is across the street from Amtrak.

 

The Amtrak Thruway run numbers (all run daily, but on weekends 8692 requires overnight stay in HAR to connect to Keystone trains next morning):

 

Pittsburgh-Harrisburg 8690, 8692

Harrisburg-Pittsburgh 8691, 8693

[KevinKorell]

Bieber Tourways suddenly ceased business on Friday, February 8, 2019.   Need to analyze which Thruway connections were affected.

[KevinKorell]

The York-Lancaster-Reading-Pottstown-Norristown-Philadelphia Thruway runs that connected with Amtrak at Lancaster and Philadelphia (operated by the former Bieber Tourways) are no more.

 

 

The Harrisburg-Pittsburgh trips that connect between Keystones at Harrisburg and serve the Pittsburgh Greyhound Terminal are Greyhound operated, so those are still running.  In fact I found another, 8035 Harrisburg to Pittsburgh and 8036 Pittsburgh to Harrisburg.  So besides the Pennsylvanian there are now 3 bus frequencies across the state that one can use if the Pennsylvanian schedule is not convenient.

[KevinKorell]

Here we are post-Pandemic, and some announcements we get of new Thruway connections may very well actually be the restoration of what existed before virus related suspensions.   A "new" Thruway run between Philadelphia and Pottstown/Reading is being announced in the press, but as one can see above something like it existed before, albeit run by a different operator.

 

From WFMZ-TV, Channel 69 in Allentown, PA, 6/3/22:

 

 

 

   Amtrak launches bus service from Philadelphia to Reading, Pottstown    

 

 

 

A new bus service will help connect riders in Berks and Montgomery counties to trains in Philadelphia.

 

Story here.

 

 

The new run numbers (same 7 days a week) are: 

 

6141 & 6171  PHL-Pottstown-Reading

6148 & 6172  Reading-Pottstown-PHL