Other People's Rail: Amtrak, commuter rail, rapid transit news & views outside New England

Jahvon09 said:
So let me get this straight;

Bizz class seats are only offered on the Acela trains. The Amfleet 1's, as they will be retired, will no longer feature Bizz Class. Coach Class will take over in all of the new cars, so that means that when the NER starts service with the new cars, it will be all-coach class, right?

When the older Acela trains came into service, first class was switched from another train. Forgot the name of them. Now that the newer Acelas are about to come into service, bizz class will only be on THOSE trains? And if you want to go bizz class, you'll soon have no choice but to ride on one of the new Acelas, right? :unsure:
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No...Northeast Regionals offer business class too, and always will. The new car order includes biz class cars.
 
Jahvon09 said:
Thanks! I've rode the NER trains in bizz class many times to Washington, DC. :)
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The Metroliners had First and Business, the Regionals (under their various names) had and have Business and Coach (and coach was unreserved for a while). The Acelas essentially just replaced the Metroliner service with the same service classes, just with new trains and a new name. The one thing I don't know is whether or not Metroliner business class had the same perks as Regional business (I believe Regional business still gets free soft drinks, I'm not certain), while Acela business is basically the Acela's version of coach without the (meager) perks that Regional business class comes with.
 
Brattle Loop said:
The Metroliners had First and Business, the Regionals (under their various names) had and have Business and Coach (and coach was unreserved for a while). The Acelas essentially just replaced the Metroliner service with the same service classes, just with new trains and a new name. The one thing I don't know is whether or not Metroliner business class had the same perks as Regional business (I believe Regional business still gets free soft drinks, I'm not certain), while Acela business is basically the Acela's version of coach without the (meager) perks that Regional business class comes with.
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The Regional STILL gives free sodas for Bizz Class passengers, but they are not the regular 12-oz cans. They are slightly smaller 8-oz cans. I think that it's high time that a sammie is included in the deal with the sodas. After all, you DO get the hungry horrors on a 7-hour trip to Washington, DC. :unsure:
 
Jahvon09 said:
So let me get this straight;

Bizz class seats are only offered on the Acela trains. The Amfleet 1's, as they will be retired, will no longer feature Bizz Class. Coach Class will take over in all of the new cars, so that means that when the NER starts service with the new cars, it will be all-coach class, right?

When the older Acelas came into service, first class was switched from another train. Forgot the name of them. Now that the newer Acelas are about to come into service, bizz class will only be featured on THOSE trains? And if you want to go bizz class, you'll soon have no choice but to ride on one of the new Acelas, right? :unsure:
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I can only speak to my own experiences on the existing Acelasover the years, but it should be interesting to see how the new carriages and service tiers are implemented as the new fleet is rolled out.
 
GIL said:
I can only speak to my own experiences on the existing Acelasover the years, but it should be interesting to see how the new carriages and service tiers are implemented as the new fleet is rolled out.
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I found out from F-Line to Dudley that the new NER's will still feature Bizz Class seats offered by new Bizz Class cars that are in the planning stage for the Northeast Corridor service. :)
 
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Yeah, I think that if they don't, they'll start to lose business travelers who want the extra elbow & leg room to be a little more comfy on the trips to Washington, DC. :unsure:
 
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The really sad part is that probably the best way to do that commute without a car is to live somewhere just north of New York City, and have one spouse super commute to Boston from New Rochelle, and have the other go from Yonkers to Albany. The Boston one would only be feasible with shifted hours (although there may be a Peter Pan bus with a better schedule than Amtrak.) but that would still be a brutally long commute for both of them. And of course, New York, even in the suburbs, is quite expensive, so it might be cheaper to get two separate apartments in Boston and Albany.
 
Springfield/Chicopee/Westfield area is really the only option. 1.5-2hrs each way to Boston or Albany depending on how you hit rush hour. Seems not ideal but doable considering that's what most people that come into NYC from the burbs are dealing with.
 
bobthebuilder said:
Just saw this. Former Mass Secretary of Transportation Richard Davey is going to be the new president of New York City Transit.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/23/nyregion/nyc-subway-chief-richard-davey.html
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I notice his official NYCMTA bio photo has him stood in front of an MBTA GL train. Was the T more willing/able to accommodate a photoshoot, or did he just not make it down to NYC?
new.mta.info

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber Appoints Richard Davey as President of New York City Transit

new.mta.info new.mta.info
 
Stlin said:
I notice his official NYCMTA bio photo has him stood in front of an MBTA GL train. Was the T more willing/able to accommodate a photoshoot, or did he just not make it down to NYC?
new.mta.info

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber Appoints Richard Davey as President of New York City Transit

new.mta.info new.mta.info
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Looks like that's an old picture (it appears to be his LinkedIn profile picture), so I think they just used an available picture. It is kind of funny though, especially given NYC's lack of LRT.
 
BOS-xxx-ALB is a bus commute if the BOS is near South Station and the ALB is near the bus station. I recommend living in SPG then it is 2:20 ish in either direction.
 
Not sure if this is the right place to put this so feel free to move it, but I'll be part of a Q&A with Dr. Phillip Plotch (author of Last Subway) tomorrow evening. If anyone has interesting questions I'm happy to work them in. I'll have a zoom recording afterwards for anyone interested.
 
Brattle Loop said:
Care to elaborate? It's been a little while, but I don't recall the T being a disaster on his watch, is there something I'm missing/forgetting?
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No answer. Its been 5 days since his no-substance shitpost. Crickets.
 
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This is highly non-boston specific, but as I'm sitting on an Acela, but is there anything stopping Amtrak from deploying a lieflat product akin to what's aboard long haul jets? (This post brought to you by discomfort while trying to take a nap on the 6:05 Acela to PHL)

The newest high angle (off center) high density lieflats for narrowbody jets have seat pitches of 38-40in, with typical bed lengths of 78in or so. Given that a train car is approximately the same width as a narrowbody cabin, the Viewliner 2 at 86ft long currently sleeps 28, where the roomette achieves similar density due to the upper berth. (78in long bed, plus 2-3in or so for the walls). Having used one a few months ago on an overnight regional, albeit more private, the things are not significantly roomier or more comfortable than a business class seat on a plane.

Acela First is a 2-1 layout with 44 seats, assuming that 60ft of the car space is used for seating, ~34-36 lieflats would fit in a 1-1 layout representing ~19-22% loss of capacity. Given journey times, I think you could sell them for a greater premium, especially BOS and points south of NYP, and given that I've rarely seen Acela First sell out, an "executive first" sub cabin could work.
 
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Brightline-image-Brightline.jpg

I got a sneaky suspicion that the new Amtrak trainsets planned for the Northeast Corridor may look quite similar to the Brightline trains that operate in Florida, only thing is that the passenger cars will use electric locos! The passenger cars are the exact lookalikes of the Brightline cars & are made by the same co., Siemans. I believe that the locos will probably have the same style. Looks like the new trains will look almost like the Acelas!!
 
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