Thanks to Chet Parsons for passing this on. Amtrak now lets you roll your bike on the train at Pittsburgh, Connellsville, Cumberland, Harpers Ferry, Martinsburg, Rockville, or Washington, DC. Thanks to David Bruffy, our own Mountain Line also provides exceptional bicycle accommodation on all their routes. Before long, maybe we'll be able to bicycle tour as in Europe where you can go jump on a train with your bike to go just about anywhere... or better yet, to get back from just about anywhere. We can make it happen!

Frank Gmeindl

Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles

Begin forwarded message:

From: Chet_Parsons@URSCorp.com
Date: July 10, 2010 9:19:28 AM EDT
To: "Frank Gmeindl" <fgmeindl@verizon.net>
Subject: Fw: Amtrak Bicycle Service

FYI
_________

Chet Parsons
URS Corporation
3604 Collins Ferry Road
Morgantown, WV 26505
304.225.5111 office
304.276.4165 mobile
From: Lboxx2
Sent: 07/10/2010 07:58 AM EDT
To: admin@atatrail.org
Subject: Amtrak Bicycle Service

Good Morning

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.

Linda

Linda McKenna Boxx, President
Allegheny Trail Alliance
P. O. Box 501
Latrobe, PA 15650

724 537 6900