A station on the route is not a stop for every train

Give each column its days as well as its number

Printed page2 of the retained98-page PDF begins with service numbers86,164 and164 in separate columns. The days row marks the first86 and the first164 Mo-Fr, while the next164 is SuSa. Those labels keep weekday and weekend records apart. A service number copied without its operating-day field would lose the distinction before any station time was read.

Follow each selected column down through the same three station rows. For weekday86, Washington Union Station shows8:50a, New Carrollton9:01a and Newark Penn Station11:56a. For weekday164, those cells are9:20a, a dash and12:30p. The weekend164 column instead shows8:40a,8:51a and12:30p. All three readings belong to the named source and their own columns, not an interchangeable list of departures.

Let the legend explain the dash

The complete station-symbol legend on printed page98 defines the dash as no scheduled stop. In the selected weekday164 column, the New Carrollton cell therefore does not supply a boarding time. It is not a zero fare, a sold-out indication, a request-stop instruction or a blank to fill from the column beside it.

The weekend164 cell at the same station contains8:51a. That does not correct the weekday dash: it describes the separately labeled weekend column. Likewise, weekday86’s9:01a is not an alternative time for weekday164. Keeping the operating-day field with the service number makes the apparent inconsistency disappear without changing the source.

The comparison table below is an original selection of those three rows and columns, not a reproduced timetable image. Its purpose is to keep the column identities visible while interpreting the dash. It does not cover every Northeast Regional service or promise that a particular future departure will operate as shown.

Do not make the station symbols answer the train question

The table also has a separate Symbols area associated with station rows. Its legend includes staffed or unstaffed station, kiosk and wheelchair-accessibility symbols, among other station information. These describe a different relationship from a time inside one train’s column. A station having a facility does not mean that the selected train calls there.

Imagine a reader who notices New Carrollton’s station symbols, then assumes weekday164 must stop because the station is equipped for passengers. The completed cell comparison supplies the missing answer: the selected column still has a dash. Conversely, a scheduled time in another column does not settle every assistance or accessibility arrangement for a real journey. Follow the operator’s actual current process for those trip-specific questions.

Keep the selected interval smaller than the whole route

The page’s column headers also show durations. Do not copy a header duration and label it the journey time between the three station rows selected here. A whole-route summary and a chosen portion of that route need not describe the same interval. This reading exercise does not need that extra duration claim to distinguish a stop from a dash.

A compact completed note can read: “Source: November2,2026 Northeast Regional, page2; service164 Mo-Fr; New Carrollton: no scheduled stop under page98 legend. The separately listed164 SuSa has8:51a.” That is a source-bounded interpretation, not a ticket, an actual reservation or a live departure confirmation.

For a real travel date, establish the current service and its actual booking information through the operator. Do not buy an itinerary from these three copied cells alone. The useful result is knowing which question the table answered and refusing to let a station name, a shared service number or a facility symbol silently answer a different one.