Amtrak delays

[Lonnie]

Glad the hotel was lovely and provided you with a nice respite. I’ve been in Chicago only once, but I too was impressed with the buildings. I’m glad you got to walk and see some of them.

Keep us posted on how the LSL and the last leg of your trip goes.

Well I just love the Viewliners because I'm the top bunk sleeper, and we had a great SCA. Arrived in Springfield only a few minutes late - I think that delay happened in Albany - after an uneventful trip. The flex food is really pretty atrocious and the LSA (actually OSA, Only Service Attendant) was clearly tired and pissed that she was the only one to handle all those people wanting breakfast and lunch. As a former "waitress," I can sympathize with her difficulties but I could also see that her every move was inefficient and just plain slow. But since we had nowhere better to be, it really didn't affect us.

 

[west point]

Frozen pipes. Also has nothing to do with EPA. HEP was being supplied from the P42 anyway.

My thought was that this problem of brakes did not affect HEP However, I can imagine a single loco train shutting down for some problem detected by a computer preventing restart. Now if that happened in a snow storm out of say CHI the passengers would be in trouble with no HEP and relief hours away. Or say a front range train south from Denver, Or a Cascades train, or 27 & 28.

What about a EPA reg not alllowing a loco to restart if tier 4 not being met?

 

[Tlcooper93]

It seems every time I get a friend to take an Acela, something terrible happens. I may stop recommending Amtrak to my buddies.

I upgraded my friend yesterday with a coupon for a BOS - BAL trip scheduled to arrive at 8:30pm and delayed until 2:20am just after Wilmington.

Any idea what the hell happened on this train? I want my coupon back (I know not gonna happen) and I want to give my friend a concrete reason for this.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

You mean 12/23/22

Weather!

Go read all of the alerts for the NEC.

 

[BarbW]

When these situations happen in the southeast, is it Amtrak or CSX who decides to reroute the train? Is it CSX's responsibility to prioritize the passenger train over freight trains?

 

[Qapla]

The "funny" thing is, while people who have to stay on a train for an extended period of time due to "circumstances beyond Amtrak's control" complain and act like it was the end-of-the-world, even though they have comfortable seats to sit in, food and water to drink and working restrooms, they just act like it is normal when flights are cancelled and they have to sit on the floor in the airport without being given food.

The number of trains that have been delayed during the winter storms this year pales in comparison to the number of flights that were cancelled and/or delayed.

 

[MARC Rider]

The "funny" thing is, while people who have to stay on a train for an extended period of time due to "circumstances beyond Amtrak's control" complain and act like it was the end-of-the-world, even though they have comfortable seats to sit in, food and water to drink and working restrooms, they just act like it is normal when flights are cancelled and they have to sit on the floor in the airport without being given food.

The number of trains that have been delayed during the winter storms this year pales in comparison to the number of flights that were cancelled and/or delayed.

This is all true, but as a percentage of the total service, I think the delays and cancellations on a couple of the long-distance routes (Coast Starlight, Empire Builder) were far more and lasted longer than those of the airlines (excepting, maybe Southwest, but that was a problem of their own making.) Delays of a few hours are one thing, but if they're so large that the next day's train has to be cancelled, then it's getting to the point that the service is not a reliable transportation alternative.

 

[Bonser]

The "funny" thing is, while people who have to stay on a train for an extended period of time due to "circumstances beyond Amtrak's control" complain and act like it was the end-of-the-world, even though they have comfortable seats to sit in, food and water to drink and working restrooms, they just act like it is normal when flights are cancelled and they have to sit on the floor in the airport without being given food.

The number of trains that have been delayed during the winter storms this year pales in comparison to the number of flights that were cancelled and/or delayed.

There are far more flights than trains though. Far, far more.

 

[drdumont]

There are far more flights than trains though. Far, far more.

Alas, you are right. This is a national shame.
However, comma, in case of propulsional or other major failure, I would rather be in my comfy room having a medicinal snort or hot fresh coffee than wondering how much more time I have until I arrive at the smoking hole.
I flew every week for over 40 years, and have no more fear of flying than fear of train wrecks. But given the choice, I will take AMTRAK with all its warts over dealing with TSA and restrictive rules. At least AMTRAK lets me bring my own booze. And biological needs <ahem> CAN be attended to, with a little ingenuity and perhaps a slight loss of dignity.

 

[Qapla]

There are far more flights than trains though. Far, far more.

Yes, there are. That's why, during the recent bought of storms, the number of trains delayed/cancelled was in the single digits and the number of flights delayed/cancelled was in the thousands.

 

[jis]

Yes, there are. That's why, during the recent bought of storms, the number of trains delayed/cancelled was in the single digits and the number of flights delayed/cancelled was in the thousands.

Although most of the "thousands" came from a single airline. The others were not really in "thousands" individually.

 

[Qapla]

Well, since all the passenger train delays/cancellations all came from a single passenger line - then having a single airline have thousands of cancellations makes it even more astounding - especially when you add in those from the other carriers. When an airport is shut down, it is not a carrier that is at fault, yet that does not lesson the inconvenience of the situation.

 

[drdumont]

Although most of the "thousands" came from a single airline. The others were not really in "thousands" individually.

It really was amazing that Southwest allowed this to happen. I've only flown SW maybe 3 times, out of sheer desperation. I refuse to fly them under ordinary circumstances since they dont have assigned seating.
Actually, their system collapse affected the other airlines/airports, as the displaced travelers thronged to other airlines for obvious reasons.
It is really interesting how one failure can bring the house of cards to its knees. Same can be said for AMTRAK, or even Greyhound. One storm, one broken down freight (or even an AMTRAK), and chaos results.
I'm really sympathetic to displaced travelers, though, whatever their reason for traveling.

 

[NE933]

I don't know if I'm being extremely cynical, but it seems in this Era, one failure of anything no matter how small or large will cause a domino effect of other consequences.

 

[Charles785]

Just noticed this video that might be of interest. (I hope it's not hidden behind a paywall.)

Why Amtrak Service Is Slow in Most of the U.S.

Amtrak says increasing service in cities like Phoenix and Atlanta will lead to more riders and more revenue. But one thing stands in the way: freight rail. WSJ’

www.wsj.com

 

[joelkfla]

Just noticed this video that might be of interest. (I hope it's not hidden behind a paywall.)

Why Amtrak Service Is Slow in Most of the U.S.

Amtrak says increasing service in cities like Phoenix and Atlanta will lead to more riders and more revenue. But one thing stands in the way: freight rail. WSJ’

www.wsj.com

It's also on their YouTube channel, so no paywall there.

 

[frequentflyer]

59 Cancelled, mechanical. Doesn't it have a Siemens locomotive?

Would love to see Siemens penalty payments. All new tech has teething problems.

 

[williamfsmith]

The east bound #8 was HOURS (7 hours!) late getting out of Seattle the other day(Tuesday?). The Monday #8 was way off schedule also. No known weather problems. No land slides. Crew shortages? Anyone know why? Respectfully, ‘Bremerton Bill’

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Late arriving equipment. 7(30) was 5-1/2 hours late arriving on Feb 1

 

[TimePeace]

Looks like #8(1) will be getting into Chicago tonight several hours too late for a connection to the lake shore Limited.

As such, a sleeper reservation probably can't be honored because they're already fairly full. So what are the options what happens?

 

[Rasputin]

Looks like #8(1) will be getting into Chicago tonight several hours too late for a connection to the lake shore Limited.

As such, a sleeper reservation probably can't be honored because they're already fairly full. So what are the options what happens?

Connecting passengers (both coach and sleeper) will be given hotel rooms by Amtrak and presumably will be re-booked on tomorrow's Lake Shore. If there is insufficient sleeping car space on tomorrow's Lake Shore some of tonight's sleeping car passengers will be downgraded to coach.

 

[TimePeace]

Connecting passengers (both coach and sleeper) will be given hotel rooms by Amtrak and presumably will be re-booked on tomorrow's Lake Shore. If there is insufficient sleeping car space on tomorrow's Lake Shore some of tonight's sleeping car passengers will be downgraded to coach.

Thanks.

 

[Eric in East County]

Connecting passengers (both coach and sleeper) will be given hotel rooms by Amtrak and presumably will be re-booked on tomorrow's Lake Shore. If there is insufficient sleeping car space on tomorrow's Lake Shore some of tonight's sleeping car passengers will be downgraded to coach.

And if tomorrow's Lake Shore is sold out and no coach seats are available, will sleeping car passengers be given another free night in a hotel or will they be bused?

 

[Bob Dylan]

And if tomorrow's Lake Shore is sold out and no coach seats are available, will sleeping car passengers be given another free night in a hotel or will they be bused?

Since it's Amtrak Who Knows????

 

[AmtrakBlue]

See Rovers post in the freight forum