Metroliner (train)

Last updated

Metroliner
Southbound Amtrak Metroliner with cab car 880 at Bowie, December 1980.jpg
A southbound Metroliner at Bowie, Maryland in 1980
Overview
Service type High speed Inter-city rail
StatusDiscontinued
Locale Northeast Corridor
First serviceJanuary 16, 1969
Last serviceOctober 27, 2006
Successor Acela Express
Former operator(s) Penn Central (1969–1971)
Amtrak (1971–2006)
Route
Termini New York City
Washington, D.C.
Distance travelled225 miles (362 km)
Average journey time2.5 to 4 hours [1]
Service frequencyUp to 15 daily round trips
On-board services
Class(es) Business and First
Technical
Rolling stock
Track gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification Catenary
11–13.5 kV 25 Hz AC
11–13.5 kV 60 Hz AC
Operating speedUp to 125 mph (200 km/h)
Track owner(s) PC, Amtrak

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 (successor to the Pennsylvania Railroad, which originally ordered the equipment), then by Amtrak for 35 years.

Contents

Service originally ran with Budd Metroliners, self-powered electric multiple unit cars designed for high-speed service. These proved unreliable and were replaced with locomotive-hauled trains in the 1980s. The trains had reserved business-class and first-class seating. The fastest trips between New York Penn Station and Washington Union Station were scheduled for 2.5 hours, though some midday trains around 1980 had schedules as long as 4 hours. [1]

Amtrak replaced Metroliner service with the high-speed Acela Express , which runs up to 150 mph (240 km/h) in revenue service. [2] [3] [4] The first Acela Express trains ran in 2000, but due to equipment difficulties at the time they did not fully replace the Metroliners until 2006. [1]

History

Beginning of service

Budd Metroliner No. 880 of Penn Central on the inaugural run of the Metroliner service on January 16, 1969 Metroliner (24291720919).jpg
Budd Metroliner No. 880 of Penn Central on the inaugural run of the Metroliner service on January 16, 1969

The High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965 started a U.S. Government effort to develop a high speed train for Northeast Corridor service. The U.S. Department of Transportation worked with the Pennsylvania Railroad, Budd Company, General Electric and Westinghouse to develop an electric multiple unit high speed passenger train. [1] An initial order of 50 Budd Metroliner cars was placed on May 6, 1966, with a target service date of October 1967. Service was to operate at 110 mph (180 km/h) with later increases to 150 mph (240 km/h), with hourly New York – Washington service and half-hourly New York – Philadelphia service. [5] The Johnson Administration saw the new service as political capital and pushed for an aggressive schedule. [5]

The new cars were primarily intended for high-level platforms for faster boarding; the PRR constructed high-level island platforms at Wilmington, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. in 1967 and 1968. [6] [7] On June 13, 1967, the PRR announced plans for a suburban New Jersey station directly off the Garden State Parkway. [6] The same month, the PRR decided on the "Metroliner" name for the vehicles and service, and announced that the trains would have higher fares than conventional service. [6]

The first cars were delivered in September 1967, but soon proved to have numerous electric issues. Start of service was delayed to January 1968, then postponed indefinitely in March 1968. [6] [7] The PRR folded into Penn Central on February 1, 1968. SEPTA refused its 11 Metroliners, intended for Philadelphia-Harrisburg service, in August; Penn Central eventually leased them, increasing its fleet to 61. In October 1968, testing proved that the cars could operate the desired sub-3-hour trip time, and substation modifications by Westinghouse increased electrical reliability. [7] Penn Central and Budd reached a settlement on their legal fight in November; on December 20, Penn Central announced that service would begin on January 16, 1969. [7]

A Washington-New York round trip for VIPs was operated on January 15, 1969. [8] Metroliner service finally started on January 16, 1969, with a single daily round trip leaving New York in the morning and Washington in the afternoon. [9] [1] A second round trip on a corresponding reversed schedule was added on February 10. [1] A non-stop round trip on a 2.5 hour schedule was added on April 2, 1969. [9] However, problems with the cars persisted; maximum speeds temporarily dropped from 120 mph (190 km/h) to 110 mph (180 km/h) soon after. [10]

Despite difficulties, the service proved overwhelmingly popular and fairly reliable, with 90% on-time performance by May 1. Penn Central added a computerized ticketing system in August 1969, and doubled service to six daily round trips on October 27. [10] On March 16, 1970, Capital Beltway station opened to serve the Metroliners, and all trips were scheduled for under three hours. A seventh round trip was added that August. [11] Beginning on February 1, 1971, a cross-platform transfer to Turboliner service to Boston was offered at Penn Station. However, top speed was soon reduced again to 100 mph (160 km/h), making the Metroliners scarcely faster than conventional trains. [12]

Amtrak era

Amtrak took over intercity passenger service from private operators on May 1, 1971. Although many trains were discontinued with the takeover, Metroliner service increased to 9 round trips. [1] Schedules further increased to 12 round trips on an hourly schedule on November 14, 1971; one trip was extended to New Haven, Connecticut (then the northern limit of electrification). Two more round trips were added on May 1, 1972, and the all-time maximum of 15 round trips was reached on October 28, 1973. [1]

Change of equipment

An AEM-7 hauls a Metroliner in 1987 Amtrak 943 with a Metroliner at Seabrook, MD, November 12, 1987.jpg
An AEM-7 hauls a Metroliner in 1987

Although initially promising, the Budd Metroliners proved unreliable; by January 1978, GG1 and E60 locomotives hauling conventional Amfleet coaches (whose design was based on the Metroliner) had better on-time percentages than Metroliners. [13] In March 1978, Amtrak began sending the cars to General Electric for rebuilding. A GG1/Amfleet set covered one Metroliner round trip on a slower schedule. [13]

In 1982, Amtrak finished replacing the Budd Metroliner cars, which had developed problems with their motors limiting their speed, with trains powered by the Swedish-developed AEM-7 locomotives pulling Amfleet coaches. Maximum speed of locomotive-hauled Metroliners increased to 120 mph (190 km/h) in 1982 and 125 mph (200 km/h) in 1985. [14] In the six months following October 29, 1990, the morning nonstop express trains were scheduled to cover the distance between Washington and New York in two hours and thirty minutes, an average speed from start to arrival of better than 90 miles per hour. [1]

Discontinuance

Amtrak expanded Metroliner service when problems developed with Acela Express braking systems during 2002 and 2005. As trainsets were repaired, the number of Metroliner trains declined to one round trip each weekday, which was finally discontinued on October 27, 2006. [1] The current Northeast Regional service matches the top speed of Metroliner service, but makes more stops and does not offer first class seating. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Amtrak ran one non-stop Acela train each way on weekdays with a travel time of 2 hours and 33 (or 35 southbound) minutes, [15] comparable to the Metroliner service. As of 2023, those trains have not been restored and the fastest travel time is now 2 hours 45 minutes with stops in Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia, and Newark. [16]

Other Metroliner services

Amtrak operated several other short-lived services under the Metroliner brand.

On October 31, 1982, Amtrak added two New England Metroliner round trips between New York City and Boston, which ran with diesel locomotives north of New Haven. These were discontinued on April 28, 1984. [1]

The next day, an additional round trip was added to the Los Angeles – San Diego corridor, supplementing the San Diegan . [17] [1] Branded as Metroliner, it made only two intermediate stops, cutting 15 minutes from the normal San Diegan schedule. [18] The trip was discontinued on April 28, 1985. [1]

On October 29, 1989, Amtrak introduced a single one-way morning Metroliner trip from Downingtown, Pennsylvania, to Washington. The trip largely served Amtrak employees, as a corresponding evening trip to serve regular commuters was not offered. The Downingtown trip was discontinued on October 25, 1991. [1]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Stop swapped to the Acela in 2005

Related Research Articles

<i>Acela</i> Intercity rail service operated by Amtrak in the northeastern United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeast Corridor</span> Electrified railroad line in the Northeastern U.S.

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, Stamford, New York City, Newark, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. The NEC closely parallels Interstate 95 for most of its length. Carrying more than 2,200 trains a day, it is the busiest passenger rail line in the United States by ridership and by service frequency.

<i>Northeast Regional</i> Amtrak northeastern U.S. intercity rail service

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 9,163,082 passengers in fiscal year (FY) 2023. The Northeast Regional service received more than $787.7 million in gross ticket revenue in FY 2023.

<i>Keystone Service</i> Amtrak service in Pennsylvania

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MARC Train</span> U.S. passenger rail system in Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area

MARC is a commuter rail system in the Washington–Baltimore area. MARC is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) and operated under contract by Alstom and Amtrak on track owned by CSX Transportation (CSXT) and Amtrak. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 3,860,600, or about 10,800 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024, less than pre-COVID-19 pandemic weekday ridership of 40,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeast Corridor Line</span> Commuter rail line in New Jersey and New York

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suburban Station</span> Station on the SEPTA Regional Rail

Suburban Station is an art deco office building and underground commuter rail station in Penn Center in Philadelphia. Its official SEPTA address is 16th Street and JFK Boulevard. The station is owned and operated by SEPTA and is one of the three core Center City stations on the SEPTA Regional Rail and one of the busiest stations in the Regional Rail System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amfleet</span> Class of American passenger railroad cars

Amfleet is a fleet of single-level intercity railroad passenger cars built by the Budd Company for American company Amtrak in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Budd based the Amfleet design on its earlier Metroliner electric multiple unit. An initial order for 57 cars in 1973 to supplement the Metroliners on the Northeast Corridor grew to two orders totaling 642 cars, sufficient to reequip all the services on the Northeast Corridor and many other routes around the United States. The first 492 cars, known as Amfleet I and completed between 1975 and 1977, were designed for short-distance service. A second order of 150 cars, known as Amfleet II and completed between 1980 and 1983, were designed for long-distance service. They were the last intercity passenger cars built by Budd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rahway station</span> NJ Transit rail station

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingston station (Rhode Island)</span> Railway station in Kingston, Rhode Island

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">52nd Street station (SEPTA Regional Rail)</span> Former train station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (closed 1980)

52nd Street is a closed train station that was located at the intersection of North 52nd Street & Merion Avenue in the West Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) at the junction of its Main Line and its Schuylkill Branch. Today, these lines are the SEPTA Regional Rail Paoli/Thorndale Line and Cynwyd Line, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clinton station (Connecticut)</span> Railway station in Clinton, Connecticut, US

Clinton station is a regional rail station served by the CT Rail Shore Line East service located near downtown Clinton, Connecticut. The station has two side platforms connected by a footbridge. Clinton is a commuter-only station; Amtrak's Acela and Northeast Regional services run through the station without stopping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madison station (Connecticut)</span> Railway station in Madison, Connecticut

Madison station is a passenger rail station along CT Rail's Shore Line East commuter rail line, which runs on the Northeast Corridor between New Haven and New London. Madison station consists of a mid-sized parking lot and one high-level side platform on the southbound side of the tracks.

<i>Beacon Hill</i> (train) Amtrak commuter train between Boston and New Haven

The Beacon Hill was a daily 157-mile (253 km) commuter rail service operated by Amtrak between Boston, Massachusetts, and New Haven, Connecticut, from 1978 to 1981. The Beacon Hill was one of the last long-haul commuter services operated by Amtrak. Service consisted of a single rush-hour round trip, with service eastbound to Boston in the morning and westbound to New Haven in the evening.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowie Railroad Buildings</span> Railway building and museum in Bowie, Maryland, US

The Bowie Railroad Buildings comprise three small frame structures at the former Bowie train station, located at the junction of what is now the Northeast Corridor and the Pope's Creek Subdivision in the town center of Bowie, Maryland. The complex includes a single-story freight depot, a two-story interlocking tower, and an open passenger shed. The station was served by passenger trains from 1872 until 1989, when it was replaced by Bowie State station nearby. The buildings were restored in 1992 as the Bowie Railroad Museum and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Budd Metroliner</span> Retired high-speed train

The Budd Metroliner was a class of American electric multiple unit (EMU) railcar designed for first-class, high-speed service between New York City and Washington, D.C., on the Northeast Corridor. They were designed for operation up to 150 miles per hour (240 km/h): what would have been the first high speed rail service in the Western Hemisphere. Although 164 mph (264 km/h) was reached during test runs, track conditions and electrical issues limited top speeds to 120 mph (190 km/h) in revenue service. The single-ended units were designed to be arranged in two-car sets, which were in turn coupled into four to eight-car trains.

<i>Chesapeake</i> (train) 1978–1983 Amtrak commuter train from Washington to Philadelphia

The Chesapeake was a daily passenger train operated by Amtrak along the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1978 to 1983. It was one of the few commuter trains operated by Amtrak.

The Clamdigger was a daily passenger train which ran along the Northeast Corridor during the 1970s. The train had two iterations: from 1898 to 1972 it was a local commuter service under the New Haven Railroad, Penn Central, and Amtrak between New London and New Haven, while from 1976 to 1978 it was a long-distance commuter service operated by Amtrak from Providence to New Haven. In 1978, it was canceled and replaced with the Beacon Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niantic station</span> Former train station in Connecticut, United States

Niantic was a train station on the Northeast Corridor located in the Niantic village of East Lyme, Connecticut. Opened in the 1850s, it was rebuilt in 1899 and again in 1954 by the New Haven Railroad. It closed in 1972, then reopened from 1978 to 1981 for use by the Amtrak Beacon Hill. A new station has since been proposed to be built in Niantic to serve the Shore Line East commuter rail service.

Lanham station was a regional rail station on the Northeast Corridor, located just outside the Capital Beltway off Route 450 in Lanham, Maryland. It was served by the predecessor of today's MARC Penn Line, until August 1982.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Goldberg, Bruce (June 30, 2006). "Metroliner's amazing career – Pivotal moments in the life of America's first high-speed train". Trains Magazine . Kalmbach Publishing.
  2. ↑ "Amtrak's Management of Northeast Corridor Improvements Demonstrates Need for Applying Best Practices (GAO-04-94)" (PDF). Report to the chairman, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, U.S. Senate. United States General Accounting Office. February 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 21, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  3. ↑ Dao, James (April 24, 2005). "Acela, Built to Be Rail's Savior, Bedevils Amtrak at Every Turn" . The New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Northeast Corridor Employee Timetable #5" (PDF). National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak). June 7, 2020. p. 110. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 7, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020– via National Transportation Safety Board.
  5. 1 2 Baer, Christopher T. (April 2015). "A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1966" (PDF). Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Baer, Christopher T. (April 2015). "A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1967" (PDF). Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Baer, Christopher T. (April 2015). "A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1968" (PDF). Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society.
  8. ↑ "American greets the Metroliner" (PDF). Penn Central Post. Penn Central Transportation: 1–2. March 1969.
  9. 1 2 Morgan, David P. (May 1969). "Metroliners: better late than never?". Modern Railways. XXV (248): 248.
  10. 1 2 Baer, Christopher T. (April 2015). "A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1969" (PDF). Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society.
  11. ↑ Baer, Christopher T. (April 2015). "A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1970" (PDF). Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society.
  12. ↑ Baer, Christopher T. (April 2015). "A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1971" (PDF). Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society.
  13. 1 2 Baer, Christopher T. (April 2015). "A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1978" (PDF). Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society.
  14. ↑ Baer, Christopher T. (April 2015). "A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1980–1989" (PDF). Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society.
  15. ↑ https://juckins.net/amtrak_timetables/archive/timetables_NE_Corridor1_New_York_Washington_20200102.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  16. ↑ https://juckins.net/amtrak_timetables/archive/timetables_NE_Corridor1_New_York_Washington_20221211_external.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  17. ↑ Rail Passenger Development Plan: 1988-93 Fiscal Years. Sacramento, CA: Division of Mass Transportation, Caltrans. 1988. OCLC   18113227.
  18. ↑ National Train Timetables. Amtrak. April 29, 1984. p. 53 – via Museum of Railway Timetables.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.