It is not the stops but the quality of the tracks. According to a conductor on that line - and old-unionized-labor type with whom I once had a nice chat, Amtrak was given the money to upgrade the tracks by the Commonwealth of PA (I also recall reading something along these lines in the Harrisburg paper) , but squandered it.
> This line is also nice for me to take a weekend or a day into Philly -
> $16 each way. For two people going into Philly, $64 total is less
> than what I'd spend in gas and Philly's insane parking fees for Center
> City over a weekend. But taking this line to NYC only makes sense if
> I am going alone - $53 each way. For two people the trip costs $212
> and I can do it for 1/4 that by car in about the same time, and
> usually have no problems getting free or dirt cheap parking.
I agree. What kills it is the insane pricing on NEC.
I still think, however, that a better solution for all that region is the commuter train, e.g. a SEPTA extension from Philly to H'burg and MARC extension from B'more to York and H'burg. Interestingly, there were rail tracks between B'more and York but they were washed away by the hurricane Agnes in the 1970s and never rebuilt, and later converted to a bicycle trail.
I think this is quite informative what will happen with the reconstruction of NO. The oligarchy that owns this country is determined to scale down all public services to the bare bone minimum and will use every opportunity to do so. A few years from now, you will see suburban-style boutiques and valet parking garages all over reconstructed areas of NO. Remember, you heard it first here.
Wojtek