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07-12-10, 10:26 AM
Just read this news, finally:thumb:
Yesterday at a meeting in Harrisburg, Amtrak officials announced that they
would begin offering roll-on/roll-off bicycle service on the Capitol Limited
by the end of June 2011!
This means that cyclists boarding at Pittsburgh, Connellsville, Cumberland,
Harpers Ferry, Martinsburg, Rockville, or Washington, DC will be able
to roll their bikes onto the train(reservations will be required; spaces
will be limited at first), put them in a rack, and get off at any of these
stops. Amtrak will be retrofitting several cars and needs to work out
operational issues before the service can begin.
This is great news for all the towns along the Great Allegheny Passage and
the C&O Canal towpath. This will add a great convenience and extra
excitement to tourists who want to bike our great trail system.
Special thanks goes to the SCA Trail Town Outreach Corps for their work in
developing a survey to assess interest in this service, conducting other
research, and helping to organize a letter writing campaign to Amtrak.
Leadership in Somerset County helped us bring this idea to Amtrak's
attention in conjunction with their efforts to create a stop at
Rockwood, and ATA developed a report showing the need, the trail traffic,
survey results and sample itineraries.
Thanks to all of you who sent your letters to Amtrak; it made a big
difference. Watch for more announcements about this service, but likely not
until next spring. I can't wait until we have the "Roll-out of
roll-on/roll-off"!
Other good news is that the Great Allegheny Passage is closer to completion
with the installation of two new bridges close to Pittsburgh (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv8B8aZx_RE) and the release of John Urman's
"On the Passage, " his companion video to "On the Canal." It was a busy
week.
Yesterday at a meeting in Harrisburg, Amtrak officials announced that they
would begin offering roll-on/roll-off bicycle service on the Capitol Limited
by the end of June 2011!
This means that cyclists boarding at Pittsburgh, Connellsville, Cumberland,
Harpers Ferry, Martinsburg, Rockville, or Washington, DC will be able
to roll their bikes onto the train(reservations will be required; spaces
will be limited at first), put them in a rack, and get off at any of these
stops. Amtrak will be retrofitting several cars and needs to work out
operational issues before the service can begin.
This is great news for all the towns along the Great Allegheny Passage and
the C&O Canal towpath. This will add a great convenience and extra
excitement to tourists who want to bike our great trail system.
Special thanks goes to the SCA Trail Town Outreach Corps for their work in
developing a survey to assess interest in this service, conducting other
research, and helping to organize a letter writing campaign to Amtrak.
Leadership in Somerset County helped us bring this idea to Amtrak's
attention in conjunction with their efforts to create a stop at
Rockwood, and ATA developed a report showing the need, the trail traffic,
survey results and sample itineraries.
Thanks to all of you who sent your letters to Amtrak; it made a big
difference. Watch for more announcements about this service, but likely not
until next spring. I can't wait until we have the "Roll-out of
roll-on/roll-off"!
Other good news is that the Great Allegheny Passage is closer to completion
with the installation of two new bridges close to Pittsburgh (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv8B8aZx_RE) and the release of John Urman's
"On the Passage, " his companion video to "On the Canal." It was a busy
week.