Lake Shore Limited
| Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited | |
|---|---|
| |
| Numbers | 48-49; 448-449 |
| Route | Boston, MA New York, NY Buffalo, NY Erie, PA Cleveland, OH Chicago, IL |
| Distance | 959 mi (1543 km) |
| Dates of operation | October 31, 1975 – present |
| Track owners (non-Amtrak) |
MNCR, CSXT, NS |
The Lake Shore Limited is a daily 959-mile (1543 km) passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Midwestern and Northeastern United States. It travels on routes formerly traveled by the famed 20th Century Limited. The Lake Shore Limited was previously operated by the New York Central (NYC) railroad. This prior version of the train ran between Toledo, Ohio and Chicago. Today, the route runs between Chicago, New York City and Boston. Passengers heading to Massachusetts change trains in Albany, New York (141 miles/227 km from New York) to a connecting 199-mile (320 km) service, also called the Lake Shore Limited.
Train details
Services on the train include a dining car lounge car, coaches, and three sleeper cars. Reservations on the Lake Shore Limited can be booked for several different seating and/or accommodation types:
- Reserved Coach Seat
- Roomette[1]
- Bedroom [2]
- Bedroom Suite [3]
- Accessible Bedroom [4] (for disabled/handicapped persons)
All the sleeper cars on the Lake Shore Limited are of their single-level Viewliner class.
Naming
The route is named after Lake Erie, along which the train travels for much of the journey. Based on the route's current operating schedule, however, the train passes by Lake Erie during the night in both directions, making the lake difficult to see.
The Lake Shore Limited is jokingly referred to as the Late For Sure Limited, or the Late Shore Limited among railfans, as the line frequently runs significantly behind schedule. Of the five round-trip journeys it made between 8 January and 12 January 2006, according to Amtrak's Train Status webpage [5], the Lake Shore when running from Chicago was an average of 61 minutes late in arriving at Penn Station, with the longest delay being 2 hours and 23 minutes and the shortest being four minutes. In the opposite direction, the train was an average of 64 minutes late arriving in Chicago, with the longest delay being 4 hours and 10 minutes and the best arrival being 23 minutes early. The longest delay, as of August 8, 2006, is for Train 48 at 10 hours 43 minutes late.
Route details
The Lake Shore Limited operates over Norfolk Southern Railway, CSX Transportation, Metro-North Railroad, Amtrak, and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority trackage:
- NS Chicago Line, Chicago to Cleveland
- CSX Cleveland Terminal Subdivision, Erie West Subdivision, Lake Shore Subdivision, Buffalo Terminal Subdivision, Rochester Subdivision, Mohawk Subdivision, Selkirk Subdivision, and Hudson Subdivision, Cleveland to Poughkeepsie (Amtrak-owned between Hoffmans and Schenectady)
- MNRR Hudson Line, Poughkeepsie to Spuyten Duyvil
- Amtrak Empire Connection, Spuyten Duyvil to Penn Station
- Amtrak Post Road Branch, Rensselaer to Schodack
- CSX Berkshire Subdivision and Boston Subdivision, Schodack to Boston (MBTA-owned between Framingham and Riverside)
Station stops
The Lake Shore Limited runs as train 48 eastbound and 49 westbound; train 448 runs eastbound from Albany-Rensselaer to Boston, and train 449 (447 on weekdays) runs westbound from Boston to Albany-Rensselaer. The train stops only at the following stations:
|
To/from Boston (transfer at Albany-Rensselaer) |
