The Clocker was a passenger train service between Philadelphia and New York City on the Northeast Corridor at first by the Pennsylvania Railroad and later by Amtrak. The service was nicknamed the Clocker by riders as trains were scheduled to leave each terminal at the top of the hour. The name was eventually adopted into official use by Amtrak in 1981. The service was briefly renamed Acela Commuter in 1999 before the name reverted to Clocker in 2003.
Amtrak discontinued the service on October28, 2005, and it was partially replaced by additional NJ Transit express trains between Trenton, New Jersey, and New York City at times approximating the Clocker schedule.
History
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Clocker was originally a Pennsylvania Railroad express train service between New York and Broad Street Station in Philadelphia;[1] the name was unofficial, and PRR timetables did not use it. Soon after New York Penn Station opened in 1910, the express trains began departing New York and Philadelphia on the hour through the day, giving rise to the Clocker name (which the railroad itself seems never to have used). Until the electrification of the Northeast Corridor in 1933, most Clockers were scheduled to both leave and arrive on each hour, but faster schedules after electrification eliminated the on the hour arrival.
Pennsylvania Railroad cut back on the schedule, and by the time Amtrak took over the nation's passenger rail service on May1, 1971, the Clocker service no longer ran hourly.
At the launch of Amtrak, the railroad assigned each run an individual name (listed in the table below). Starting with the October 1981 timetable, Amtrak officially adopted the Clocker name for the service.[2] The trains were unreserved, coach class only, and Amtrak targeted the Clocker service at commuters travelling to local stops bypassed by the high-speed Metroliner trains, the Regional trains, and other named long-distance trains.
During the 1990s, NJ Transit started contracting with Amtrak to accept their monthly passes on the Clocker trains. These two decisions drastically shifted the clientele on the trains. Monthly ticket holders from New Jersey preferred the Clocker trains over the NJ Transit trains because they were faster and more comfortable, meanwhile, Amtrak's passengers avoided the Clocker trains because they were slower and frequently crowded. Also, the monthlies meant that few passengers traveled to or from Philadelphia.
Until 2002, the 7:59 AM Clocker from Princeton Junction included a private club car known as Club200 that members paid up to $1,200 per year to join (equivalent to $1,952in 2022). This was the last private club car used in regular commuter service on the Northeast Corridor.[3]
When the Acela Express was introduced in 1999, Amtrak launched what it called the Capstone Program, a short-lived plan to re-brand the NortheastDirect, Keystone Service and Empire Service trains as Acela Regional and the Clocker trains as Acela Commuter.[4] Following mass rider confusion between this service and the high-speed Acela Express service, the name reverted to Clocker in 2003.[5]
By the early 2000s, NJ Transit was paying $6 million per year to compensate Amtrak for monthly ticket holders riding Clocker trains,[6] and was loaning Amtrak its new ALP-46 locomotives to haul the trains' Amfleet coaches.
On October 28, 2005, Amtrak discontinued the Clocker service altogether and sold the Northeast Corridor operating slots to NJ Transit which used them to partially replace the service with additional Northeast Corridor Line express trains between Trenton and New York City at times approximating the Clocker schedule.[7]
↑ Warner, David C.; Goldberg, Bruce (2021). Fifty Years of Amtrak Trains: A Comprehensive Survey of Amtrak Routes: 1971–2021. Bucklin, Missouri: White River Productions. ISBN978-1-932804-70-6.
The Acela is Amtrak's flagship passenger train service along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) in the Northeastern United States between Washington, D.C., and Boston via 13 intermediate stops, including Baltimore, New York City and Philadelphia. Acela trains are the fastest in the Americas, reaching 150 miles per hour (240 km/h), but only over 49.9 miles (80.3 km) of the 457-mile (735 km) route.
The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C. in the south with major stops in Providence, New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford, New York City, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. The NEC closely parallels Interstate 95 for most of its length, and is the busiest passenger rail line in the United States both by ridership and by service frequency as of 2013. The NEC carries more than 2,200 trains daily.
The Northeast Regional is an intercity rail service operated by Amtrak in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. In the past it has been known as the NortheastDirect, Acela Regional, or Regional. It is Amtrak's busiest route, carrying 8,686,930 passengers in fiscal year (FY) 2018, a 1.4% increase over the 8.57 million passengers in FY 2017. The Northeast Regional service earned over $613.9 million in gross ticket revenue in FY 2016, a 0.4% increase over the $611.7 million earned during FY 2015.
The Metroliners were extra-fare high-speed trains between Washington, D.C., and New York City which operated from 1969 to 2006. They were briefly first operated by Penn Central Transportation, then by Amtrak for 35 years.
The Keystone Service is a 195 mile regional passenger train service from Amtrak between the Harrisburg Transportation Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, running along the Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line. Most trains continue along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) to Penn Station in New York City.
The Northeast Corridor Line is a commuter rail service operated by NJ Transit between the Trenton Transit Center and New York Penn Station on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor in the United States. The service is the successor to Pennsylvania Railroad commuter trains between Trenton and New York, and is NJ Transit's busiest commuter rail service. After arrival at New York Penn Station, some trains load passengers and return to New Jersey, while others continue east to Sunnyside Yard for storage. Most servicing is done at the Morrisville Yard, at the west end of the line. The Northeast Corridor Line is colored red on NJ Transit system maps and its symbol is the State House. The Princeton Branch is a shuttle service connecting to the line. Connecting SEPTA Trenton Line service between Philadelphia and Trenton is listed in the timetable.
Newark Penn Station is an intermodal passenger station in Newark, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, Newark Penn Station is served by multiple rail and bus carriers, making it the seventh busiest rail station in the United States, and the fourth busiest in the New York City metropolitan area.
Princeton Junction station is a railroad station in Princeton Junction, New Jersey, located in West Windsor Township. It serves NJ Transit (NJT) and Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), and NJ Transit on the Princeton Branch.
Newark Liberty International Airport Station is a railroad station on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) in Newark, New Jersey. The station provides access to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) via the AirTrain monorail which connects the station to the airport's terminals and parking areas.
The Atlantic City Line (ACL) is a commuter rail line operated by NJ Transit (NJT) in the United States between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlantic City, New Jersey, operating along the corridor of the White Horse Pike. It runs over trackage that was controlled by both the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines. It shares trackage with SEPTA and Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) until it crosses the Delaware River on its own Delair Bridge into New Jersey.
Lindenwold station is a train station in Lindenwold, New Jersey, United States, served by the NJ Transit Atlantic City Line regional rail service and the rapid transit PATCO Speedline. Lindenwold is the eastern terminus of PATCO; the system's headquarters and maintenance facility are located adjacent to the station in neighboring Voorhees.
Trenton Transit Center is the main passenger train station in Trenton, New Jersey. It is the southernmost stop in New Jersey on the Northeast Corridor. It is the terminus for NJ Transit trains to and from New York City and SEPTA Trenton Line Regional Rail trains to and from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and an intermediate station for Amtrak trains traveling between the two cities along the Northeast Corridor.
The Keystone Corridor is a 349-mile (562 km) railroad corridor between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that consists of two rail lines: Amtrak and SEPTA's Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg main line, which hosts SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale Line commuter rail service, and Amtrak's Keystone and Pennsylvanian inter-city trains; and the Norfolk Southern Pittsburgh Line. The corridor was originally the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Rahway station is an NJ Transit train station in Rahway, New Jersey that is located 20.7 miles southwest of New York Penn Station, with service on the Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast lines.
The Atlantic City Express was an Amtrak train that ran from both Harrisburg, New York City, Richmond, Springfield and Washington, D.C. to Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the Northeastern United States. The train operated on the Northeast Corridor to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where it went east to Atlantic City.
Kingston is a historic railroad station located on the Northeast Corridor in the village of West Kingston, in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island. It was built at this location in 1875 by the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad, replacing earlier stations dating back to the opening of the line in 1837. Current rail services consist of Northeast Regional trains in each direction, most of which stop at the station. Historically Kingston provided commuter rail service to Providence and Boston via Amtrak's commuter rail services. The MBTA is looking at extending their commuter service on the Providence/Stoughton Line.
The Hartford Line is a train service run by Amtrak primarily between Springfield, Massachusetts, and New Haven, Connecticut, along Amtrak's New Haven–Springfield Line.
The Colonial was an Amtrak intercity passenger train that operated between Boston, Massachusetts, and Newport News, Virginia, from 1976 to 1992. It was introduced on June 15, 1976, to replace the lightly-used Charlottesville-Newport News section of the James Whitcomb Riley. Certain trips were known as the Senator and Tidewater beginning in the late 1970s. The Richmond-New York City Virginian was added in 1984, with some trips called Potomac from 1985 to 1988.
The first-generation Acela Express trainset is a unique set of vehicles used on the Acela, Amtrak's flagship high-speed service along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) in the Northeastern United States. When they debuted in 2000, the sets were the fastest in the Americas; reaching 150 mph (240 km/h) on 33.9 mi (54.6 km) of the route. They were built between 1998 and 2001 by a consortium of Alstom and Bombardier. Each set has two power cars derived from units that Alstom built for the TGV, and six passenger cars derived from the LRC that Bombardier built for Via Rail.
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