Cardinal?

[Phil S]

This is my preferred train for getting back west - route and scenery. I would really really hate to see it dropped.

 

[nybatt]

This is my preferred train for getting back west - route and scenery. I would really really hate to see it dropped.

I am scheduled to ride the Cardinal this sunday, 7/15, departing from Wilmington, Del. I called Amtrak yesterday to poke around and see if I could find anything out. It amazes me that there is no official announcement/update/service bulletin regarding any of the cancelled trains.

Anyway, the rep I got on the phone was very helpful, but had no difinitive information. She did mention that she received an email from Amtrak saying they were trying to get the train running again ASAP... naturally... She believed 50/51 would be back running this week. I am not so sure. The other east coast-chicago routes (Cap Ltd. and Lake Shore) were sold out.

My next question for her was how Amtrak was going to get me to Chicago for my connecting train the following day. She had no answer for me.

this is shaping up as a real mess.

The discussions here have been helpful, to a point, but why no communication from Amtrak? Why no service disruption listed on their website??

 

[dn4192]

I was scheduled for the Aug 9 eastbound trip and couldn't get any kind of answer from Amtrak either and just went ahead and cancelled and will be flying east.

 

[user 1215]

We really need to see if there is freight traffic started back up on the line.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

According to posts at TO, the 'projected' date for service resumption is 7/19. There was also mention that parts of the former C&O had severe damage to it's signal and switch communication system.

I wouldn't bury 50 & 51 quite yet.

 

[colobok]

I saw at least 4 freight trains today moving in New River Gorge, so I don't understand what is the problem with Amtrak?

I have tickets booked from CHW to CVS and then to TPA for 7/15 and I still don't know what to do.

 

[PegB]

I am supposed to travel to Chicago from DC on the Cardinal on July 20. I got a backup reservation on the Capital Limited. Figure it is a $15 insurance policy. I realize that most of the Cardinal riders don't have that option.

 

[rtabern]

I'm scheduled to be on #50 in a roomette from CHI-NYP on July 19th, which I heard is the first day they are considering running the train now (or atleast the first date they haven't blocked ticket sales). I had this trip booked for 8 months now and even though the Lake Shore or Capitol is more direct and has better food service, I prefer the scenery on #50 and that is why I chose the Cardinal as my train.

However, I am getting a little nervous with no official announcement from Amtrak about what is going on or what the projected date is. They could easily go in an extend the ticket blockage or a cancellation another week and cancel my #50 on July 19th too.

I did a little prying around yesterday and noticed that the Lake Shore Limited was already sold out CHI-NYP on July 19th... and the Capitol Limited only had 5 roomettes left.

So, I used 20K AGR points and locked in a room on the Capitol too... just in case #50 is cancelled. I hate "double booking" and cancelling one of the rooms at the last minute (which you can do with AGR for no penalty) -- BUT -- this train is the start of a planned 10 day trip on the east coast and New York City -- including side-trips on the Auto Train (my last long distance train to cross off my list), Empire Service/Lake Shore Limited RT to SDY, and a couple of Acela rides.

So, we'll see what happens... hopefully #50... I'd take that over #30.

 

[George Harris]

I saw at least 4 freight trains today moving in New River Gorge, so I don't understand what is the problem with Amtrak?

Track open and trains moving in the gorge does not equual track open and trains moving on Buckingham Branch territory. Without BB line, no Cardinal.

 

[rtabern]

I'm scheduled to be on #50 in a roomette from CHI-NYP on July 19th, which I heard is the first day they are considering running the train now (or atleast the first date they haven't blocked ticket sales). I had this trip booked for 8 months now and even though the Lake Shore or Capitol is more direct and has better food service, I prefer the scenery on #50 and that is why I chose the Cardinal as my train.

However, I am getting a little nervous with no official announcement from Amtrak about what is going on or what the projected date is. They could easily go in an extend the ticket blockage or a cancellation another week and cancel my #50 on July 19th too.

I did a little prying around yesterday and noticed that the Lake Shore Limited was already sold out CHI-NYP on July 19th... and the Capitol Limited only had 5 roomettes left.

So, I used 20K AGR points and locked in a room on the Capitol too... just in case #50 is cancelled. I hate "double booking" and cancelling one of the rooms at the last minute (which you can do with AGR for no penalty) -- BUT -- this train is the start of a planned 10 day trip on the east coast and New York City -- including side-trips on the Auto Train (my last long distance train to cross off my list), Empire Service/Lake Shore Limited RT to SDY, and a couple of Acela rides.

So, we'll see what happens... hopefully #50... I'd take that over #30.

I just noticed that Amtrak has now blocked all ticket sales on my train, #50(19).

UGH... probably not a good sign.

I will hold onto my #50 tickets until I hear something, but I am going to presume I will be taking the Capitol Limited now.

Hopefully some good news will develop in the next 10 days and they will unblock things.

 

[rtabern]

I'm scheduled to be on #50 in a roomette from CHI-NYP on July 19th, which I heard is the first day they are considering running the train now (or atleast the first date they haven't blocked ticket sales). I had this trip booked for 8 months now and even though the Lake Shore or Capitol is more direct and has better food service, I prefer the scenery on #50 and that is why I chose the Cardinal as my train.

However, I am getting a little nervous with no official announcement from Amtrak about what is going on or what the projected date is. They could easily go in an extend the ticket blockage or a cancellation another week and cancel my #50 on July 19th too.

I did a little prying around yesterday and noticed that the Lake Shore Limited was already sold out CHI-NYP on July 19th... and the Capitol Limited only had 5 roomettes left.

So, I used 20K AGR points and locked in a room on the Capitol too... just in case #50 is cancelled. I hate "double booking" and cancelling one of the rooms at the last minute (which you can do with AGR for no penalty) -- BUT -- this train is the start of a planned 10 day trip on the east coast and New York City -- including side-trips on the Auto Train (my last long distance train to cross off my list), Empire Service/Lake Shore Limited RT to SDY, and a couple of Acela rides.

So, we'll see what happens... hopefully #50... I'd take that over #30.

I just noticed that Amtrak has now blocked all ticket sales on my train, #50(19).

UGH... probably not a good sign.

I will hold onto my #50 tickets until I hear something, but I am going to presume I will be taking the Capitol Limited now.

Hopefully some good news will develop in the next 10 days and they will unblock things.

I stand corrected (after playing around with Amtrak's website some more)!!!

Amtrak shows #50(19) with open seats and 2 roomettes to White Sulfur Springs, WV... but east of there everything is showing *SOLD OUT*

I am wondering if this is some glitch in ARROW or if Amtrak is planning on trying to turn the train At White Sulfur Springs or somewhere along the WV/VA border, if possible.

 

[spot1181]

Booked a roomette last night for Thursday 7/12 from Cincinnati to Chicago, so at least the Cardinal is going somewhere. Tickets are available from Charleston west.

 

[spot1181]

They still have a roomette and a bedroom available from Cincinnati for 7/11.

 

[NE933]

Maybe this will become a fate similar to the Sunset Limited. C'mon, we all knew Amtrak will drop one or the other at the next natural disaster, so here we are. Maybe though, this is the sacrificial lamb to get the Sunset back to Florida.

 

[George Harris]

Maybe this will become a fate similar to the Sunset Limited. C'mon, we all knew Amtrak will drop one or the other at the next natural disaster, so here we are. Maybe though, this is the sacrificial lamb to get the Sunset back to Florida.

Get real. Katrina was a couple of orders of magnitude worse than this bunch of storms.

 

[TCRT]

Not to ignore what is a very bad situation for the people affected, but with regards to the Cardinal and the Sunset-esque conspiracy theories, isn't this train specifically mandated by Congress?

 

[AmtrakBlue]

People who want to take the Cardinal aren't the only one's affected. The other trains, CL & LSL which were already near capacity are now sold out until at least Friday 7/13. Guess if my daughter has her baby early, which is a real possibility now, I'll be flying.

 

[dn4192]

I was scheduled on the Aug 9 Cardinal and emailed Amtrak who said they "hope" to be operating by July 19th, but no guarentee. I have since cancelled my ride east and will be flying. I was also impressed, cancelled my tix on friday evening, and had refund back in my account this AM on tuesday. Still coming back via Penn/CL/Cardinal into Indy in Mid Aug, just hope no more disasters...

 

[Ryan]

Why cancel now, when there's a decent chance the train will run? It's not like you can't cancel closer to departure, or won't get a 100% refund if the train doesn't run...

 

[afigg]

Not to ignore what is a very bad situation for the people affected, but with regards to the Cardinal and the Sunset-esque conspiracy theories, isn't this train specifically mandated by Congress?

My understanding is that the mandate for WV service was in an appropriations bill many years ago (Senator Byrd I assume), but that it is considered as no longer in effect.

The Cardinal gets pretty good ridership numbers per train, so all this talk about Amtrak looking to shut down the train are silly. The Cardinal had 110,923 passengers in total in FY2011. A 3 day a week train would nominally run 156 times a year each way. Figure with some weather and track problem cancellations, the train ran a total of 300 times in FY2011 which is likely on the high side. Dividing 110,923 by 300 = 369 passengers per train. Add a sleeper and baggage-dorm car when they are available to the 1 Viewliner sleeper car on the train and the Cardinal, even at 3 days a week, will get a solid bump in sleeper revenue.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

However, I am getting a little nervous with no official announcement from Amtrak about what is going on or what the projected date is.

Does Amtrak even own any of the affected tracks?

If one is looking for Amtrak to make a guess, I would be far more comfortable relying on a guess from someone here.

 

[PRR 60]

Why cancel now, when there's a decent chance the train will run? It's not like you can't cancel closer to departure, or won't get a 100% refund if the train doesn't run...

Maybe to grab a better airfare now than would be available within a week or so of the travel date?

 

[dn4192]

Why cancel now, when there's a decent chance the train will run? It's not like you can't cancel closer to departure, or won't get a 100% refund if the train doesn't run...

Simple...cost. My train ticket was $83 and I can get a plane ticket for $101 right now, if I wait and then cant train I am betting my airline ticket will be a bit more expensive.

 

[Ryan]

Yeah, I get that. I guess I buried the criticism of the airlines too deep on that one.

Buying a plane ticket doesn't necessarily mean that you have to cancel the Amtrak reservation. If only the airlines had decent cancellation policies (I'm sure that a fully refundable plane ticket would be a heck of a lot more than $101) you'd have more options.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

My SIL suggested last night that I get a refundable ticket from SouthWest for my trip to see my grandson...when he arrives (they were in the hospital last night for pre-term contractions). I said, no thanks, I'm sure I can either get a train or a plane at "the last minute" when the time comes. I'm just going to "wing" it.