Lackawanna Coalition

advocating for rail passengers since 1979

Tag: Amtrak

  • PennDOT Talks about Passenger Trains to Scranton again

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    David Peter Alan

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    The Lackawanna Coalition considers its geographic purview to include lines that were once part of the Lackawanna Railroad, even if they are located beyond NJ Transit’s reach.  That includes the line to Scranton over the Cutoff, an engineering marvel that crossed the Pocono Mountains and began service in 1911.  The last scheduled passenger trains ran…

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  • Amtrak Strands Sight-Impaired Campers in Michigan; Advocates Fume in Response

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    David Peter Alan

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    Amtrak’s Wolverine service in Michigan, which runs between Chicago and Pontiac through Detroit, has not been doing very well lately.  There have been reports of breakdowns, cancellations, and other problems on the line, including with new engines that recently entered service.  For a group of about 30 blind and otherwise sight-impaired campers, the train trip…

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  • Coming November 14: RUN’s 25th Anniversary Conference

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    David Peter Alan

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    The Rail Users’ Network (RUN) is observing its 25th anniversary this year. RUN was founded in 2000 as a spinoff from the Amtrak Customer Advisory Committee (ACAC), to which several of the original RUN members belonged at the time. Since its founding, RUN has been concerned with improving Amtrak, advocating for better rail transit in…

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  • Report from the Chair—Sept./Oct. 2024

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    Sally Jane Gellert

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    This summer has been a challenging one at NJ Transit, with many rail delays, which the agency largely blamed on Amtrak. In fact, the agency has now started reporting 2 sets of delay statistics: those with an Amtrak component, and those without. As trains become stuck in tunnels, we think about the often-raised concern regarding…

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  • RUN Conference: Optimism & Reality—“What is the Hold Up‽”

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    Webweaver

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    The Rail Users’ Network held their spring conference virtually on the afternoon of Friday, May 17. The conference’s focus was expanding long distance rail service: “Why Amtrak service to more towns and cities is important to the entire U.S.!” The agenda of conference speakers included advocates from around the nation who are pushing for expansion…

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  • Idyll in Jersey (Avenue, Main)

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    John Bobsin

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    Last Thursday Lynn and I had a leisurely lunch with an old friend at the Sakura Japanese buffet in North Brunswick.  It was a beautiful day with cloudless blue skies, and since the NJT Jersey Avenue station is only a 10 minute trip, we decided to check it out.   Jersey Avenue is, basically, an…

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  • “Microgrid” Eyed to Improve NJT Power

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    John Bobsin

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    NJ Transit will partner with the US Department of Energy to study the design a new kind of “electrical microgrid” to make the railroad’s electrical power and control systems more resilient.  NJ Governor Christie characterized the effort as part of the program to make NJ Transit less vulnerable to events such as Hurricane Sandy, which…

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  • Amtrak Reaches for Highest Speed

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    John Bobsin

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    All the talk is of high-speed trains, but NJ Transit commuters wonder whether they will ever benefit, as commuter trains with their many stops, long loading times, and terminal congestion delays seem to be bogged down in a 19th-Century era, often managing less than 30 miles per hour average end-to-end.  Still, it’s possible to run…

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  • Aging Infrastructure Blamed for NJT Delays

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    John Bobsin

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    Aging infrastructure, and the lack of cash to fix it, particularly on the Northeast Corridor, are cited as a main cause of service delays on NJ Transit, according to reporting by Karen Rouse and Dave Sheingold of The Record (reported in the Star-Ledger,  August 8).  An NEC commuter is quoted as saying that conductors frequently…

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  • “Gateway” Project Gains Traction

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    John Bobsin

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    Increasingly, transportation experts and politicians are getting behind a new trans-Hudson rail tunnel plan, the so-called Gateway project, according to Steve Strunsky, reporting in the Star-Ledger (June 14). The catchier “Gateway” name isn’t the only advantage over the now-defunct Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) project, derided as “the stop in Macy’s basement”.  Like ARC,…

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