(The Tribune-Democrat posted the following story by Randy Griffith on its website on February 5.)
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Amtrak officials and rail buffs agree that schedule changes to begin Monday should improve passenger service through Johnstown.
“The Pennsylvanian will originate in Pittsburgh,” Amtrak spokesman Dan Stessel said in a telephone interview from Amtrak’s Washington offices. “The train will run better. ”
The Pennsylvanian now starts its run at 1 a.m. in Chicago and often is delayed by two or three hours on the way to Johnstown for a scheduled 2:35 p.m. stop.
“It will be more dependable because it originates in Pittsburgh,” Amtrak-watcher Lloyd Davis said in a telephone interview from his New Florence home. A retired traffic consultant, Lloyd formerly served on the advisory panel for Port Authority Transit in Allegheny County.
Davis likes the Pennsylvanian’s earlier, 9:06 a.m. departure time from Johnstown and its new, direct route to New York. Previously, passengers on the Pennsylvanian had to change trains in Philadelphia to make the New York connection.
“You’ll be in New York City by 5 o’clock, which will make it nice, ” Davis said.
He praised Amtrak’s plans to eliminate the use of freight cars at the rear of its passenger trains. The so-called “express freight service” was losing money and slowing down the passenger service, Davis said.
“Freight or express service tends to slow it down and you run into logistics problems,” Stessel said. “Without the freight cars, the trains should operate a whole lot better. ”
The scheduled 2:50 p.m. arrival in Philadelphia and 4:43 p.m. scheduled arrival in New York’s Penn Station will make it easier for passengers to connect to other trains in the East Coast network, Davis said.
Davis has first-hand knowledge of how late the local service often runs.
“I took a ride on Friday to Richmond, Va., and the train was two hours late out of Johnstown, ” Davis said, adding that he was fortunate to make a later connection from Philadelphia to Richmond.Shirley Trice of New Street in Johnstown got aboard the Pennsylvanian at 2:30 p.m. yesterday five minutes ahead of schedule. That wasn’t the case the last time she took the train from Johnstown.
“Last year, I waited 2 1/2 hours. That’s how late it was,” Trice said before boarding from the Amtrak station at 47 Walnut St. in Johnstown.
A Christmas trip started about an hour late, she said.She as skeptical the changes will help the trains run on time.”Yeah, right,” she said.
Doug Kozlay of Baltimore was getting on the same train. He said he rides the train every week and has seen the problems caused by delays.
“It has been reasonably good lately, ” Kozlay said. Davis said service to the East looks good on paper. With the improved schedule, he would be able to arrive in Richmond by supper time. Travel to Atlantic City will also be more convenient, with Philadelphia-to-Atlantic City shuttles leaving about every 30 minutes.
“You will be able to connect to Atlantic City and get there in the daytime,” he said.
Those traveling to Cleveland and Toledo will not be so lucky, Davis said.
The westbound Pennsylvanian will end its daily run at 4 p.m. in Pittsburgh. Johnstown’s only other Amtrak train, the Three Rivers, arrives in Pittsburgh at 11:30 p.m. and goes on to Chicago through Youngstown and Akron, but not Cleveland.
“You will have a seven-hour layover in Pittsburgh if you want to go to Toledo or Cleveland,” Davis said, adding that the Pennsylvanian’s current Pittsburgh-to-Chicago route takes it through Cleveland.Stessel acknowledged the layover for Cleveland-bound passengers creates a problem.
“If you will head from Johnstown to Cleveland, we would accommodate you with a bus connection,” Stessel said.Even that connection will have a layover of almost three hours in Pittsburgh.
Davis said his sources report the inconvenience may only last a few weeks. More schedule changes in late April could reduce the layover time, he said.
The Pennsylvanian’s new schedule will be a boon for train buffs who want to take a day trip from Johnstown through the Horseshoe Curve and visit the Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum, Davis said.
“That’s going to help,” Davis said.
Betty Toole of Savannah, Ga., and her daughter Katie Toole, a St. Francis University student, were taking a trip through the Horseshoe Curve yesterday.
“When I lived in New Jersey, I rode the train to Pittsburgh to see family, ” Mrs. Toole said yesterday during the 15-minute layover between trains in Johnstown.
“I went through the Horseshoe Curve and I thought it was so neat. I wanted her to experience it. “