22 replies to this topic

[jacorbett70]

Skeptical letter in the Berkshire Eagle, from 4/30, suggests they should have run a bus via Wassaic instead.

 

 

Either the Hudson line or the Wassaic one (as was done previously) with a smooth bus connection to the Berkshires was and is the better way. Millions of NYC visitors get from its airports to center city via a "two-step." Looks to me like "no transfer needed" led to a "solution" that will never make it out of the transit ICU.

https://www.berkshir...cde7da972a.html

 

Links to Berkshire Eagle article from 4/26:

https://www.berkshir...536d73c78a.html

[KevinKorell]

WWLP-TV, Channel 22 in Springfield, MA,  5/25/22:
 

 

    Tickets on sale for Amtrak’s NY-Berkshires train service 

 

 

Tickets are now on sale for Amtrak’s newest train service, the “Berkshire Flyer,” for travel between New York City and Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Service will begin Friday, July 8, and will operate on weekends throughout the summer.

 

Story

 

The Friday train from NYP to Pittsfield will be 1235, and the Sunday train from Pittsfield to NYP will be 1244.    The northbound looks like an extra run, which between NYP and Albany on a Friday can't hurt.   However it appears that the southbound on Sundays will replace the existing Albany-NYP Train 244.

[Springfield Pete]

I don't agree with the letter sent to the Berkshire Eagle, suggesting a bus connection between Pittsfield and Wassaic instead of direct train service.  First of all, anyone using this service will be spending the weekend in Pittsfield, so they will have luggage -- not convenient if you must transfer.  Secondly, the fastest service from GCT to Wassaic takes 2 hours.  Adding 15 minutes for the transfer, and 1 1/2 hours for the drive up to Pittsfield, and you have gained only a few minutes off the 4 hour schedule for the Amtrak direct service.   The Amtrak service could be even faster if not for the 30 minute layover in Albany.  Why is this long layover necessary ?  No need for an engine change or crew change, as far as I can see.

 

The former NHRR line from Pittsfield to GCT via Danbury and South Norwalk was a more direct route than going via Albany, but not any faster -- the weekday Berkshire train took 4 1/2 hours and the weekend trains took 4 hours.  But those trains offered a weekend getaway in Stockbridge, Great Barrington, etc besides Pittsfield so they carried more passengers than I expect will ride the new Amtrak train.    

[KevinKorell]

 Why is this long layover necessary ?  No need for an engine change or crew change, as far as I can see.

 

I've never seen the Empire Service P32-AC-DM dual mode locomotives operate in reverse; in other words these trains have always operated with engine up front.    The route via Albany will require a direction change, or less likely the need to wye the train someplace.   Everything would enter and leave the Albany station to the south.  So then would they need to cut the power and run the engine around to the opposite end?

 

Unless somebody is planning to stay in downtown Pittsfield, I would hope that there will be some type of "last mile" service that meets the arriving and departing train at the station.  Uber/Lyft may be spotty in that area but some dedicated shuttle needs to be marketed to the public so that they can access various tourist sites and hotels during their weekend stay.

[Springfield Pete]

Thanks for the explanation, Kevin.  They not only have to run the P32-AC-DM around to the other end of the train in Albany, they also have to turn it, as the cab is only at one end of the engine.  (Unlike the old New Haven EP-4 and EP-5 electrics -- they had cabs at each end.)   They will have to run the engine almost a mile North of the Albany station to reach the wye.  Of course this delay & the associated labor costs could be avoided if the train had an engine at each end.  I know Amtrak has only 18 of the Dual Mode P32's, so not sure if they could spare one to run the Pittsfield train with two engines. 

 

I also thought about a P32 at one end of the train and a standard Diesel at the other end, but this would require turning the train at Pittsfield, and I don't think there is any wye there.  Didn't the ACES train between NYC and Atlantic City run with an electric on one end and a diesel on the other end?  No wye at Atlantic City so I wonder how they handled the reverse move back to NYC.     

[KevinKorell]

IIRC the ACES consist was bidirectional; it could operate in push-pull modes with either the diesel on one end or the electric on the other end.  The train simply changed direction at Frankford Junction in Philadelphia, powering one engine down and starting up the other.   One would think that while the train was in "push" mode, the dead engine up front served as the cab car.

 

Back to the Berkshire Flyer and Albany, this is brought to mind...   for the time it would take to disconnect the engine, run it to a wye, run it around the rear of the train and then reconnect it, it might save some time to simply have a regular diesel ready to go in position to hook to the rear of the train while the first engine is being decoupled.    Although there is no directional change, the Albany station crews should be familiar with positioning engines correctly as they do the dance of joining or splitting the sections of the Lake Shore Limited every day it runs.

 

Since I have no desire to ride this to Pittsfield and spend 43 hours 48 minutes at the downtown Pittsfield train station (or less if I cheat and take the Lake Shore Limited somewhere), I might just have to go to Albany and observe for sure how they handle this.

[KevinKorell]

On another note, now that the train (1235 & 1244) is in the inventory, it appears there will not be any food service, consistent with the New York-Albany corridor runs.

[KevinKorell]

Berkshire Eagle, Pittsfield, MA, 7/8/22:

 

 

    'Sold out' Berkshire Flyer train is rolling towards Pittsfield, after on-time departure from New York City   

 

 

As Train 1235 pulled away from Gate 6 at the Moynihan Train Station, an announcer welcomed passengers to the new Berkshire Flyer line with a phrase not heard in New York City in more than 50 years — “This train is en route to Pittsfield.”

 

Full story

[KevinKorell]

Berkshire Eagle, Pittsfield, MA, 7/8/22 (updated after train arrived in PIT):

 

 

   Five years in the making, Berkshire Flyer's inaugural run from New York City to Pittsfield a 'sold out' success    

 

 

The Flyer’s first trip went off without a hitch — mostly. A departure board malfunction at Penn Station didn’t display the gate number for the train’s exit.

 

 

Update

[KevinKorell]

iBerkshires, 6/22/22:
 

 

     Berkshire Flyer Is First Direct Rail Connection to NYC in 51 Years 

 

The Berkshires will be directly connected next month to New York City through passenger rail service for the first time in more than 50 years.

 

Read