Amtrak begins tweeting out train delays

From www.newsworks.org: "Amtrak began Tweeting out major service disruptions that cause long delays or stoppages. Trains covered include Acela Express and Northeast Regional and other Amtrak trains between Washington, D.C., and Boston; Keystone Service trains between Harrisburg, Pa.; and New York City, via Philadelphia and Shuttle trains between Springfield, Mass., and New Haven, Conn. No Tweet will be sent for single trains that experience delays. The Tweets will also be linked to from Amtrak.com. Follow @AmtrakNEC on Twitter to get the latest on delays along the Northeast Corridor."

Great idea for a service and easy to implement. I don't like: "No Tweet will be sent for single trains that experience delays", why not? Amtrak knows if a train is delayed so just tweet it.

Amtrak 'Multi-Ride' 2011 Costs - Amtrak Commuter Pass / Monthly Pass for the Philly-NYC Commuter.

2011 pricing and details for the Amtrak 'Multi-Ride' option are below. The Amtrak 'Multi-Ride Ticket' is the best option for anyone considering commuting or currently commuting between Philly and Manhattan on Amtrak. Financially it's the best Amtrak deal for the regular PHL-NYC commuter (it is still a high price to pay, but Northeast Regional trains should be getting WiFi soon if that helps at all), and it is the most convenient since you don't have to buy an individual ticket for each train. You can just hop on nearly any train you want. I haven't discussed the specific costs and details of commuting between Philadelphia and New York City since 2009 so this post is overdue.

From the Amtrak site:
"Multi-Ride Tickets, which allow you to ride multiple times within a set amount of time, are available in monthly, ten-ride, six-ride and two-ride options. Multi-Ride Tickets are not accepted on all routes. Read the Multi-Ride Tickets terms and conditions for travel, reservation and ticket requirements."

These prices I got today from the amtrak.com site and are between stations PHL and NYP

$1,242.00 One Monthly Ticket
The monthly ticket is valid for unlimited travel for an entire calendar month.

$552.00 One Ten-Ride Ticket
The ten-ride ticket is valid for ten rides within a 45-day period.

In January 2009 the costs were $1,152.00 and $512.00 respectively. That's less than a 10% increase but higher than the rate of inflation. Amtrak ridership keeps increasing so if people are willing to pay the prices will continue to go up I'm sure.

You cannot take any Acela trains with these passes but you can take most Northeast Regional trains. Click here to see what trains you can take with the Monthly Ticket or Ten-Ride Ticket.

Click here for more info on the Amtrak website about Multi-Ride tickets in general.

"WSJ.com: A Northeast-Corridor Bullet Train"

WSJ.com article about "A Northeast-Corridor Bullet Train". The Journals states that "Today's Amtrak service—under the Acela brand name—is by international standards a joke. A new public-private partnership could change that"

I couldn't read the article since I don't subscribe to the WSJ but with the ARC getting shelved I think private investment is needed to kick start that project sooner rather than later. I'm for private investment in the NEC. It's not like Amtrak and NJT are cheap so the more competition the better.

Amtrak reaches 16-straight months of ridership growth

ProgressiveRailroading.com noted that Amtrak's ridership rose 7.6 percent to 2.9 million riders for February 2011, the best February on record.  Acela Express ridership increased 9.7 percent. The increase also marked 16 consecutive months of ridership growth from November 2009 to February 2011.Overall ridership averaged a 6 percent growth rate in the period. Amtrak said that higher gasoline prices, better marketing and the addition of Wi-Fi on Acela Express helped with the increase.

Amtrak will grow for sure, the trend is unmistakable. I'd like to see the growth for the Northeast Regional trains, not just the Acela. The Regional numbers will show the importance of the NEC for the average commuter and why continued investment in our rail system is needed.

Christie Says He'll Fund Hudson River Tunnel Only If New York Chips In

Bloomberg article about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said he's willing to put money into construction of a rail tunnel to New York City only if the state and city contribute.

Generally most everyone agrees that another tunnel under the Hudson River is needed. I'd like to see how long it takes to restart the tunneling effort so I'll note articles on this subject.