Amtrak service suspended

[chris.li...@gmail.com]

1010 WINS announced that all AMTRAK service has been suspended between
Providence RI and Boston MA. Most of Boston is in lockdown,with no
buses or trains running.

Chris

[hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com]

On Apr 19, 9:36 am, "chris.linthomp...@gmail.com"

Amtrak serves the entire country, and the subject header suggests all
of Amtrak is shut down. Could we suggest that you include the cities
and the date in such news reports? Thanks.

[Sancho Panza]

As well as the status of the all-important air travel.

[chris.li...@gmail.com]

Thank you for the correction.

OTOH I doubt 200 million people read Usenet anymore, so folks
traveling between say, Houston and Spokane probably did not think they
might be inconvenienced.

Chris

[Jim Ellwanger]

In article
<b75471da-58c5-438b...@m1g2000vbe.googlegroups.com>,

"chris.li...@gmail.com" <chris.li...@gmail.com> wrote:

> OTOH I doubt 200 million people read Usenet anymore, so folks
> traveling between say, Houston and Spokane probably did not think they
> might be inconvenienced.

...granted, it's not particularly convenient to travel from Houston to
Spokane on Amtrak anyway.

--
Jim Ellwanger <use...@ellwanger.tv>
<http://www.ellwanger.tv> welcomes you daily.
"The days turn into nights; at night, you hear the trains."

[houn...@yahoo.co.uk]

All service between New York Penn Station and Boston is now suspended, AIUI.

Amtrak has also curtailed services on the Downeaster, with nothing going
into or out of Boston North Station, according to Amtrak's website. It
did not indicate what the Downeaster's operating regime was, however.

[Steven M. O'Neill]

Jim Ellwanger <use...@ellwanger.tv> wrote:
>In article
><b75471da-58c5-438b...@m1g2000vbe.googlegroups.com>,
> "chris.li...@gmail.com" <chris.li...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> OTOH I doubt 200 million people read Usenet anymore, so folks
>> traveling between say, Houston and Spokane probably did not think they
>> might be inconvenienced.
>
>...granted, it's not particularly convenient to travel from Houston to
>Spokane on Amtrak anyway.

Balderdash. On Saturday, there's a 6:55 PM Sunset Limited that
(along with a couple of other trains) will get you to Spokane by
noonish Wednesday. Way faster than a stagecoach.

--
Steven O'Neill ste...@panix.com
Brooklyn, NY http://www.panix.com/~steveo

[Stephen Sprunk]

Citing a primary source would also be good, especially since it takes
only a few seconds with Google to find one:

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Alert_C&pagename=am/AM_Alert_C/Alerts_Popup&cid=1251623665465

"At the request of local authorities, and due to ongoing police
activity, Amtrak Acela Express and Northeast Regional service remains
suspended indefinitely in the Boston area. Northeast Corridor trains are
terminating at New York Penn Station."

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

[Phil Kane]

On Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:56:27 -0700, Jim Ellwanger
<use...@ellwanger.tv> wrote:

>...granted, it's not particularly convenient to travel from Houston to
>Spokane on Amtrak anyway.

Define "convenient". Sunset Limited to LA, Coast Starlight to either
Portland or Seattle, Empire Builder to Spokane. Lots of train riding.
I may even do it some day.

Phil Kane - Beaverton, OR
PNW CP HALL MP 29.9 - OE District

[Phil Kane]

On Sat, 20 Apr 2013 12:16:43 -0500, Stephen Sprunk
<ste...@sprunk.org> wrote:

>"At the request of local authorities, and due to ongoing police
>activity, Amtrak Acela Express and Northeast Regional service remains
>suspended indefinitely in the Boston area. Northeast Corridor trains are
>terminating at New York Penn Station."

The HS senior daughter of a good friend was up in Boston doing the
"college evaluation" circuit and was on the subway headed for the
Amtrak station (as she describes it) when the blasts went off. Per
her description, the subway made no further stops until it reached the
Amtrak station. Apparently she was not delayed in getting to New
Haven. Harvard, Yale, MIT -- oh, all the difficult choices. <G> Dummy
passed up Cal Tech and Cooper Union.... <G> I never had that problem
- it was either Cooper Union or CCNY.

"Stand Clear of the Closing Doors, Please"

[hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com]

On Apr 20, 7:23 pm, Phil Kane <Phil.K...@nov.shmovz.ka.pop> wrote:

> ... was on the subway headed for the

> Amtrak station (as she describes it) when the blasts went off.  Per
> her description, the subway made no further stops until it reached the
> Amtrak station.  Apparently she was not delayed in getting to New
> Haven.

She was fortunate, the MBTA shut down entirely soon afterwards.

FWIW, a friend's son is graduating Yale and was happy there.

[Peter T. Daniels]

The T was shut down after they identified the suspects, i.e. Friday,
as part of the general lockdown..

[Jimmy]

"hounsl...@yahoo.co.uk" <hounsl...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> chris.linthomp...@gmail.com wrote:
> > 1010 WINS announced that all AMTRAK service has been suspended between
> > Providence RI and Boston MA. Most of Boston is in lockdown,with no
> > buses or trains running.
>

> All service between New York Penn Station and Boston is now suspended, AIUI.

Why didn't Amtrak run from New York to Providence, like they
originally announced? Or even to the Route 128 station?

The lockdown only applied to a few towns near the core of Boston.
Many people could have gotten picked up by car at Providence or Route
128.

Jimmy

[houn...@yahoo.co.uk]

AIUI, there were concerns that third person could have been involved and
could have been travelling along the NEC. Indeed, I even heard that the
police searched a train at South Norwalk, on the New Haven Line though I
don't know if it was Amtrak or MNRR/CDOT.

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Friday, it applied to the entire city of Boston and a number of
northern (at least) suburbs.

[Jimmy]

"Peter T. Daniels" <gramma...@verizon.net> wrote:

> Jimmy <JimmyGeldb...@mailinator.com> wrote:
> > Why didn't Amtrak run from New York to Providence, like they
> > originally announced?  Or even to the Route 128 station?
>
> > The lockdown only applied to a few towns near the core of Boston.
> > Many people could have gotten picked up by car at Providence or Route
> > 128.
>
> On Friday, it applied to the entire city of Boston and a number of
> northern (at least) suburbs.

None of which were near the Providence or Route 128 Amtrak stations.
(Nor all the other stations between there and New York, for that
matter. Why should people going to Westerly, RI have been stranded in
New York?)

Jimmy

[hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com]

On Apr 24, 3:04 pm, Jimmy <JimmyGeldb...@mailinator.com> wrote:

> Why didn't Amtrak run from New York to Providence, like they
> originally announced?  Or even to the Route 128 station?
>
> The lockdown only applied to a few towns near the core of Boston.
> Many people could have gotten picked up by car at Providence or Route
> 128.

For the very reason in your last sentence. News reports say the
brothers intended and boasted about bombing Manhattan, so train
service was suspended to thwart attempts to get there.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57581444/times-square-attack-planned-by-boston-bombing-suspects-authorities-say/

It was an extreme step, and perhaps there were other methods
available, but in the light of what authorities knew (see above), the
service suspension (at the request of the cops) seemed to make sense.

[The next question is how those guys got so radicalized. That
radicalization / fanaticism is something I didn't understand in the
1960s and don't understand now.]

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Apr 25, 4:07 pm, hanco...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
> On Apr 24, 3:04 pm, Jimmy <JimmyGeldb...@mailinator.com> wrote:
>
> > Why didn't Amtrak run from New York to Providence, like they
> > originally announced?  Or even to the Route 128 station?
>
> > The lockdown only applied to a few towns near the core of Boston.
> > Many people could have gotten picked up by car at Providence or Route
> > 128.
>
> For the very reason in your last sentence.  News reports say the
> brothers intended and boasted about bombing Manhattan, so train
> service was suspended to thwart attempts to get there.
>

> http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57581444/times-square-attack-plan...

>
> It was an extreme step, and perhaps there were other methods
> available, but in the light of what authorities knew (see above), the
> service suspension (at the request of the cops) seemed to make sense.

They didn't "know" about the New York idea (which was a spur-of-the-
moment thing) until today, when Dzhokhar told them about it. The
suspension was just a routine precaution to make escape more
difficult.

> [The next question is how those guys got so radicalized.  That
> radicalization / fanaticism is something I didn't understand in the
> 1960s and don't understand now.]

What do you mean by "radicalized"? There's no evidence that Tamerlan
was with "radicals" during his vacation in Daghestan; his mother now
says she tried to make him more religious because his boxing, perhaps
womanizing lifestyle (he married a Christian) didn't seem ideal to her.

[Jimmy]

hanco...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
> Jimmy <JimmyGeldb...@mailinator.com> wrote:
>
> > Why didn't Amtrak run from New York to Providence, like they
> > originally announced?  Or even to the Route 128 station?
>
> > The lockdown only applied to a few towns near the core of Boston.
> > Many people could have gotten picked up by car at Providence or Route
> > 128.
>
> For the very reason in your last sentence.  News reports say the
> brothers intended and boasted about bombing Manhattan, so train
> service was suspended to thwart attempts to get there.

If they could have gotten themselves to Providence by car to catch a
shortened Amtrak service, why wouldn't they just drive all the way to
New York?

Never mind that it would have been trivial to find them on a train,
since everyone knew what they looked like.

People with cars were able to drive north from New York City. In
fact, despite the lockdown, it was possible to drive everywhere in the
Boston area on Friday, except in Watertown. (Authorities announced
that people didn't have to shelter at work, and were allowed to drive
home.)

It was a big disservice to people who use mass transit to shut down
all Amtrak and intercity bus service north of New York.

Jimmy