WASHINGTON — Amtrak is now offering late-night and early-morning fares ranging from $5 to $20 on portions of the Northeast Corridor under a “Night Owl Fares” promotion announced Thursday.
The coach fares are good for travel between Washington, D.C., and New York only, for select departures between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. More information, including sample fares and terms and conditions, are available at this page on the Amtrak website.
The fare promotion comes at a time when the passenger operator is not offering its full late-night service over the length of the Northeast Corridor. The Boston-New York segment of overnight trains Nos. 65, 66, and 67 has been suspended to accommodate Metropolitan Transportation Authority work on the Hell Gate Line between Penn Station and New Rochelle, N.Y. [see “Amtrak to take one track on Hell Gate Line out of service …,” Trains News Wire, March 6, 2023]
Will seats be included for these ultra low fares? 😉
Charge $25 for a carry on bag?
Given the few trains running on the NEC during this specified time period, how superfluous are such trains? Would it not be a better business decision to transfer the equipment to increase frequency on a different corridor?
Or, to maximize the potential of the “Northeast Regional” to compete with the multiple successful bus operators serving the NEC by creating a “Tourist Class” of lower coach prices to serve throughout the day college students and the elderly who have deserted the train for the bus.
And to maximize the marketability of the “Northeast Regional” by creating a “First Class” for the business travelers unable to utilize the “Acela Express” between stops, e.g., Bridgeport-Westerly.
But these suggestions would require Amtrak to have a viable Marketing Department thinking “out of the box.”
So many empty seats they’re practically giving them away. Yet Amtrak mgmt purposely reduces capacity on LD routes where more seats & slprs could be filled to further their claim LD routes lose money. I presume these NEC loses will be spread out among the whole network including gouging state supported svc through Amtrak’s slight of hand acctg practices.
Exactly!