PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Amtrak will launch seasonal service between New York and Pittsfield as part of a two-year pilot program beginning July 8.
The Berkshire Flyer, operating in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, will offer Friday service from Penn Station to Pittsfield via Albany-Rensselaer, N.Y. Return service will operate on Sundays. The Friday train will depart Penn Station at 3:16 p.m. and arrive in Pittsfield at 7:12 p.m., making the same intermediate stops as Empire Service trains. The return trip will depart Pittsfield at 3 p.m., making the same station stops and arriving in New York at 7:05 p.m.
“We’re appreciative of the support and cooperation of CSX for the Berkshire Flyer service, which will offer a more comfortable and convenient transportation option, that’s also more environmentally friendly, for people traveling between New York City and Berkshire County, along with easy access to musical performances at Tanglewood,” Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner said in a press release.
The pilot program will be assessed to determine demand, its schedule if it continues, and identify infrastructure improvements that may be necessary.
Another little gem is the Sunday PIT departure, an unmarketable 3PM. It has to be that time because, like its Friday counterpart, it’s an extension of trains that terminate or originate at Rensselaer. No one wanted to spend the $$$ to create a new train and another crew for the Rensselaer-NY segment. So the Sunday train becomes the regular daily 430p train #244. But here’s the thing, the entire 50mile route is single track except for a 5 mile segment of double between East Chatham and downtown Chatham, CP171-CP176. The Sunday Flyer will reach the double track at CP171 at approx 325p and CP176 at 328-330. The current departure time of #448 is 327pm. So the Flyer will sit at CP176 for nearly 30 minutes, IF #448 is OT. Maybe by 7/10 #448 will have been rescheduled…or perhaps discontinued.
I suspect CSX is playing nice because they want the Pan Am Southern (B&M) deal to be approved.
In 1959 NH 144 left NY GCT 5.27 PM, made Danbury CT 7.27, Pittsfield MA 10.03 PM. 154.0 miles. 144 had a Parlor Car and a Cafe Coach.
Also Amtrak 449 is schedulled 76 min for the 52.3 miles between Springfield and Pittsfield. Amtrak has facilities in Springfield; would it be worth continuing to there?
What a waste! Who’s footing the bill for this? MA? Or is it comped by the taxpayers like the rest of the NEC.
I wonder about crew schedule. Are they Away from home off the clock all weekend. Vanned to Albany? and is train equipment tied up all weekend waiting for the return trip.
Mr. Wayman, the crew base for the Empire Service is Rensselaer. I do not have hard info but I suspect the Friday crew combination will be Rensselaer-NYP, NYP-PIT, then deadhead the eq back to Rensselaer. Sundays the crew will deadhead Rensselaer-PIT, PIT-NYP, and run a revenue train back to Rensselaer. If this is so, the engineer will have to “change ends” at Rensselaer. The trains will have to have an engine on both ends for the Rensselaer-PIT segment. I suspect the Friday train will add the second engine at Rensselaer and the Sunday train will drop the second engine before leaving for NYP.
Point of information – Does the westbound Boston section of the Lake Shore run straight into ALB-REN, or does it have to back in? Does it come into A-R from the north or the south? Just trying to visualize.
Straight shot Boston to Chicago Union Station. (After the Post Road track was restored, of course.) Comes into REN from the south and exists north.
Years and eons ago, I watched the backup move (pre Post Road) from the rear vestibule standing beside Amtrak prexy Paul Reistrup.
So NYP-Pittsfield train would have to reverse ends before departing East, right? Thus the delay?
Yup.
Lots of things to do in that area. We’vebeen there twice for a few days recently. Interesting local theater.
Oh man, how lucky can you get!
Not this one again. This is a proposal we throughly reamed on these pages when it first came up. Quite frankly I’m not interested in a train that runs once a week on an indirect route. I’d change my mind on this proposal if it ran twice a day year ’round rather than once a week, seasonally.
What’s the market? Pittsfield is a very small city. It’s in the midst of a tourist area but that means a taxicab or a shuttle bus from the Pittsfield depot.
James (above) says it’s a lot longer than driving. Actually it’s a lot longer than a lot longer than driving. It means a three-seat ride rather than a one-seat ride —- get to the originating station then get to where you’re going from Pittsfield. Plus obviously the potentially many many hours of delay for fitting your trip into the train’s schedule — a schedule that would seem to serve about one percent of the New Yorkers aiming for a Berkshire sojourn.
I understand that there are many people who for one reason or another don’t drive who want a weekend in the Berkshires. I also understand that it’s possible that tourist destinations (the Tanglewood music festival in nearby Lenox, obviously) will bundle shuttle buses ad hotel rooms. Which means tourist desitinations spending a lot of their money to turn a sow’s ear of a train into a silk purse.
One obscure benefit, though: this will demonstrate that Pittsfield’s market is as much New York as eastern Massachusetts. Remember the discussion of a day or two ago where me and others pointed that out?
This project and East-West Rail should be merged together in concept and execution.
How would you structure that, Mr. Turon?
Yes Charles, “this one again”. I attended the first two “working group” sessions that was convened to study the feasibility of this and gave up in disgust. This is the brainchild of a wealthy, well educated, and apparently very influential resident of West Stockbridge who went out and bought our state senator. And that senator has been beating the drum for this since 2019. This is nothing more than the senator getting his donor his 1ft=1ft scale model train layout. I have a great deal more on this but this has gotten too long. Suffice it to say Stephen Gardner is full of crap when he says riders will have “easy access” to the likes of Tanglewood. So far I’ve seen nothing in local write ups on this to indicate the “last mile” issues that everyone knows about has been addressed.
1. That seems too early a Friday departure to attract weekend travelers, particularly families.
2. It’s a lot longer than driving but a bit shorter than taking the Peter Pan bus service.
3. Trip seems a half hour longer than it should be if you add the New York Penn to Albany Empire Service trip to the Albany to Pittsfield Lake Shore Limited trip. Does it take a half hour to get the train changed from North-South to East-West?