Silver Meteor #97 problems?

[Grandma B]

For three days in a row, the Silver Meteor out of NYP has been quite late arriving in WPB. What causes the train to be 126 minutes, 160 minutes and 223 minutes late??? Have there been any accidents, derailments or broken rails? Is there track work being done? Our last experience riding Amtrak in 2007, we were 5+ hours late arriving in WPB due to a broken CSX rail that had to be repaired. We're looking forward to the same trip again in July and hoping for a better "on time" arrival record.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Since nobody's come up with anything, Grandma B, I'll take a wild guess from the wild west.

This time of year is trackwork season back there on the wrong coast. With much to be done, and some money for a change to do it with, it's gonna be a busy maintenance summer on the Northeast Corridor. The Silver trains - Meteor and Star - use the Corridor, and might be subject to trackwork delays along its length. Again, just guessing.

Amtrak prepared (sort of) for this situation by not including schedules for Northeast Corridor trains (Silver trains, among others, are Long Distance trains, not Corridor trains, even though some use the Corridor for parts of their runs) in the current System Timetable. Schedules will be shifting as trackwork progresses, and it's not a real stretch to guess that the Silvers will be affected as well.

Have a great trip, but know in advance that there may be delays, and try to be flexible in your planning.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

For three days in a row, the Silver Meteor out of NYP has been quite late arriving in WPB. What causes the train to be 126 minutes, 160 minutes and 223 minutes late???

I have been taking the Silvers for year, and I would say being 2, 3, or even 4 hours late, is "normal". I always make my plans to account for that fact. I will add that the one time we actually arrive a few minutes early, really screwed me up because I had no plans for that possibility.

 

[TampAGS]

For three days in a row, the Silver Meteor out of NYP has been quite late arriving in WPB. What causes the train to be 126 minutes, 160 minutes and 223 minutes late??? Have there been any accidents, derailments or broken rails? Is there track work being done?

On-time performance for the Silver Meteor #97 for the month of April was 70%. This is a bit lower than its results for the last 12 months: 78.2%.

 

Among the primary causes for April delays were issues related to:

• track and signals (35%)
  
• train interference (25.5%)
  
• operational issues (16.5%)
  

CSX was responsible for a great majority of these instances.

 

All the above is per the data on Amtrak.com.

 

[Grandma B]

For three days in a row, the Silver Meteor out of NYP has been quite late arriving in WPB. What causes the train to be 126 minutes, 160 minutes and 223 minutes late???

I will add that the one time we actually arrive a few minutes early, really screwed me up because I had no plans for that possibility.

We couldn't be happier if we were waiting to be picked up from the station because the Meteor arrived earlier than scheduled. I know the Star is late a lot of times, but the Meteor seems to have a better track record until just recently.

 

[Grandma B]

For three days in a row, the Silver Meteor out of NYP has been quite late arriving in WPB. What causes the train to be 126 minutes, 160 minutes and 223 minutes late??? Have there been any accidents, derailments or broken rails? Is there track work being done?

On-time performance for the Silver Meteor #97 for the month of April was 70%. This is a bit lower than its results for the last 12 months: 78.2%.

 

Among the primary causes for April delays were issues related to:

• track and signals (35%)
  
• train interference (25.5%)
  
• operational issues (16.5%)
  

CSX was responsible for a great majority of these instances.

 

All the above is per the data on Amtrak.com.

Thanks for your answer. Guess there's a lot of CSX interruptions that are out of Amtrak's control. We would rather hear that then hear of a railroad crossing accident.

P.S. I love your Silver's 97/98 videos on YouTube. We got to see the new consist with the Viewliners in the rear.

 

[TampAGS]

Thanks for your answer. Guess there's a lot of CSX interruptions that are out of Amtrak's control. We would rather hear that then hear of a railroad crossing accident.
P.S. I love your Silver's 97/98 videos on YouTube. We got to see the new consist with the Viewliners in the rear.

Thanks very much! Yeah, some of my recent videos I specifically filmed right after the changes to the consist arrangement went into effect. It seemed like there was an interest in seeing how the changes looked. I'm glad you enjoyed them.

 

I've seen the Star (#92) pull out of Tampa delayed by as much as 120 minutes, and STILL manage to pull into DC Union Station on schedule. There's a lot of padding in the schedules so sometimes they can come back from what seem like insurmountable deficits.

 

Keep "Julie"'s number (800-USA-RAIL) on hand with your cell phone so you can call and check your progress while on board if sufficient detail is not offered by the crew. Just remember sometimes you have to take what she says with a grain of salt. That Julie has gotten herself a reputation as an occasional big, fat liar!