Amtrak Extended Delay because of BNSF (7/31/10)

[AferVentus]

So I am taking the Empire Builder tomorrow from Red Wing, MN to Wisconsin Dells, WI for a short trip to get one of the people in my family to get some bonus points for guest rewards through a referral. I checked the status on the unofficial "status maps" site, and noticed that it is scheduled 7 hours late to the next station (GGW). I called Amtrak and they said it was because of a broken axle derailment on a bnsf train with 7 - 10 hour delays for all other trains. My question is: will the train actually be able to make up time in order to give us a halfway decent departure time from Red Wing? Amtrak gave me only a canned response. Also, can I view BNSF info for status anywhere? All I can find is something on the BNSF website from last month about new mexico derailment.

Thanks!

 

[Acela150]

The chances it makes up 7 hours are very unlikely. The most I would see him making up is 30 minutes overnight. That's me.

Steve

 

[AferVentus]

Oh boy... and now I just got a call saying they will have a bus. So I talked to an agent. He said I have three options: take the bus, wait for the train, or get a refund. I have a student advantage fare. How long do I have to decide to cancel?

 

[rrdude]

Oh boy... and now I just got a call saying they will have a bus. So I talked to an agent. He said I have three options: take the bus, wait for the train, or get a refund. I have a student advantage fare. How long do I have to decide to cancel?

Is your ticket printed? If not, I'd simply reschedule. A points run on a bus is no fun.

 

[saxman]

Oh boy... and now I just got a call saying they will have a bus. So I talked to an agent. He said I have three options: take the bus, wait for the train, or get a refund. I have a student advantage fare. How long do I have to decide to cancel?

It's a point run so just reschedule. If you do reschedule, make sure you do so 3 days in advance so you can keep your Student Advantage discount. Otherwise you'll just have to pay the difference up to the full fare.

 

[AferVentus]

Thanks, all.

Yes, I called and they reversed the trip, so we came back from the dells for no extra charge on the same tickets. The guy on the phone gave me a boarding number, and that was that. Everything was cleared up!

 

[George Harris]

If the San Joquins are any example, delays are due to things beyond the control of BNSF, and I count derailments in that.

On one of these trains coming back into Emeryville, as we were waiting to make the transition from BNSF to UP tracks, it was announced over the PA that the cause of the delay was that we were leaving BNSF tracks and waiting to be allowed on UP tracks. Up to that point, the train ahd been on time or early into every stop, and any waits at meets were for Amtrak coming theother way.