johnnymk
09-29-2005, 05:32 PM
By BRIAN SCHEID
Bucks County Courier Times
Amtrak will continue to stop in Bucks County, but weekday commuters in Bucks will pay about $315 more per month to ride the rails, a monthly fare increase of more than 55 percent, Amtrak announced Tuesday.
Earlier this month, Amtrak announced it was canceling its plans to shut down service at Cornwells Heights in Bensalem, Bucks' only Amtrak stop, and that it would postpone a fare hike originally scheduled to begin last week.
Tuesday, the company announced that the fare hike would, instead, take place in two stages, with an approximate $157-per-month fare increase to begin Oct. 16 for commuters who travel between Cornwells Heights and New York's Penn Station. In February, the monthly fares will increase another $157.
"It's the same fare increase that was proposed originally, but it's going to be implemented in stages," said Tracy Connell, an Amtrak spokeswoman.
Connell said a number of rising expenses, including a 40 percent rise in the cost of locomotive diesel fuel this year, led to the increase.
Bucks Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick, R-8, said it seemed Amtrak was punishing the daily commuter with its dramatic fare hikes at a time when mass transportation alternatives were "needed desperately."
Amtrak's "strategy of threatening service and increasing costs seems completely counterintuitive to everything that's supposed to be taught in business school," he said.
Bensalem resident Rick Booth, an Amtrak commuter who waged a campaign to keep the stop in Bucks, said the fare hike would drive people away.
"I'm not sure if I'm surprised or not that [Amtrak] did this, but I'm a little disappointed," he said Tuesday.
Amtrak plans to increase fares on all trains in the northeast, including a $3 to $4 jump for all general fares and an increase of 5 to 7 percent on most one-time fares.
For Bucks commuters who travel on Amtrak from Trenton to Penn Station, the fare will jump from $522 a month to a monthly rate of $666 in October to $810 per month by February, Connell said.
That means that within about four months, Amtrak's Trenton commuters will pay about $288 more per month.
"It's ridiculous," said Michelle Cotton, an advertising executive from Richboro who has commuted on Amtrak between Trenton and Manhattan for more than 20 years. "I knew this was coming. I knew it, but it's unforgivable."
"Obviously, Amtrak doesn't want us," she said. "I just don't understand why they would do this to their customers."
Proposed monthly fare increases
From Trenton to Penn Station:
Now: $522 per month
Oct. 16: $666 per month
Feb. 1: $810 per month
Bucks County Courier Times
Amtrak will continue to stop in Bucks County, but weekday commuters in Bucks will pay about $315 more per month to ride the rails, a monthly fare increase of more than 55 percent, Amtrak announced Tuesday.
Earlier this month, Amtrak announced it was canceling its plans to shut down service at Cornwells Heights in Bensalem, Bucks' only Amtrak stop, and that it would postpone a fare hike originally scheduled to begin last week.
Tuesday, the company announced that the fare hike would, instead, take place in two stages, with an approximate $157-per-month fare increase to begin Oct. 16 for commuters who travel between Cornwells Heights and New York's Penn Station. In February, the monthly fares will increase another $157.
"It's the same fare increase that was proposed originally, but it's going to be implemented in stages," said Tracy Connell, an Amtrak spokeswoman.
Connell said a number of rising expenses, including a 40 percent rise in the cost of locomotive diesel fuel this year, led to the increase.
Bucks Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick, R-8, said it seemed Amtrak was punishing the daily commuter with its dramatic fare hikes at a time when mass transportation alternatives were "needed desperately."
Amtrak's "strategy of threatening service and increasing costs seems completely counterintuitive to everything that's supposed to be taught in business school," he said.
Bensalem resident Rick Booth, an Amtrak commuter who waged a campaign to keep the stop in Bucks, said the fare hike would drive people away.
"I'm not sure if I'm surprised or not that [Amtrak] did this, but I'm a little disappointed," he said Tuesday.
Amtrak plans to increase fares on all trains in the northeast, including a $3 to $4 jump for all general fares and an increase of 5 to 7 percent on most one-time fares.
For Bucks commuters who travel on Amtrak from Trenton to Penn Station, the fare will jump from $522 a month to a monthly rate of $666 in October to $810 per month by February, Connell said.
That means that within about four months, Amtrak's Trenton commuters will pay about $288 more per month.
"It's ridiculous," said Michelle Cotton, an advertising executive from Richboro who has commuted on Amtrak between Trenton and Manhattan for more than 20 years. "I knew this was coming. I knew it, but it's unforgivable."
"Obviously, Amtrak doesn't want us," she said. "I just don't understand why they would do this to their customers."
Proposed monthly fare increases
From Trenton to Penn Station:
Now: $522 per month
Oct. 16: $666 per month
Feb. 1: $810 per month