The website of Western Pennsylvanians for Passenger Rail (WPPR), www.wpprrail.org, posts a report, On Track to Accessibility, that discusses the costs and benefits of operating three daily Pittsburgh-NYC trains over the Pennsylvanian route which obviously includes Altoona. The report was commissioned by Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership with whom WPPR collaborated in creating the document. WPPR can be reached at wpprrail@gmail.com if you have comments about the report or would like to be added to their mailing list.
I agree with the others. Altoona is 117 rail miles from Pittsburgh. Amtrak's Pennsylvanian is currently carded at 3 hours WB, 2.5 hrs. EB. That probably includes some 'recovery time,' but it's still way too long for a commute. Also, Altoona isn't in Pittsburgh's zone of influence.
Allegheny Valley RR toyed with the idea of RDC commuter service from Pittsburgh about 18 mi. up the namesake river but that's gone nowhere.
D.Carleton No.
No.
+1
It was actually tried a couple of times, a couple of ways. First, when PennDOT was rebuilding Penn Highway(?) from the turnpike to downtown in the early 80s (late 70s?), Conrail rain some P70 coaches pulled by U36Bs on contract for PennDOT. Failed miserably. Didn't even keep running until the end of the road construction.
Second, for a short while, they tried turning the Pennsylvanian back at Pittsburgh to Altoona in the afternoon and then back as an AM commuter train to Pittsburgh.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
Amtrak tried that once with the Fort Pitt for a short time.
Kevin
http://chatanuga.org/RailPage.html
http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html
The answer is no, because Altoona is too far away for commuting distance . For many years there was commuting service between Latrobe and Pittsburgh, which lasted into the 1050's. Today there is suburban bus service, including the busway built on the old PRR right of way next to the remaining double-track line.
Expanding a bit on 'no' --
You're going to have hundreds of shop people making a round trip of over 100 miles each way... over an already congested Horse Shoe Curve... instead of living in the Altoona area? In trains separate from the Pennsylvanian, presumably supplied by or subsidized by a Pennsylvania state agency already overtasked with subsidy for the Pennsylvanian?
Similar questions, I think, with the idea (no matter how attractive it might seem to some Altoona residents) of 'counterflow' travel into Pittsburgh for shopping, etc. (but not sports events, dinner trip, or entertainment; I trust you see why...) I see problems, grave problems, with the 'logistics'.
Any money spent on this, or a study to investigate this, would be better spent on other transportation alternatives. IMHO.
Editor Emeritus, This Week at Amtrak
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