Sunset Ltd service disruption

[MiniMax]

I see that the Sunset Limited is dealing with some severe weather in the Houston area. The train tracker symbol for trains 1 and 2 has turned grey. The message states its time and mph, but is followed by the words "service disruption." Does that mean that the passengers are being bused?

 

[John Bobinyec]

About all that can be said about the dreaded "service disruption" designation is that Amtrak isn't tracking the progress of the train in its reservation system. The train might still be moving or it might not be - with or without passengers. You have to go to other sources to find out what's really happening.

jb

 

[Lonestar648]

Houston was really hammered with very heavy rain, plus they are the bayou city which means flat with drainage trenches. Houston always floods, too much water and too flat for rapid runoff. Bottom line, weak point for the SL during Texas rainy season and hurricane season.

 

[Bob Dylan]

All of Central and South East Texas is flooding due to torrential rains up to 20 inches,with more predicted over the next few days.

This includes San Antonio where the Eagles switch their cutout cars to,/from the Sunset Ltd. and which expierences heavy flooding including the UP tracks during situations like this.

 

[AmtrakLKL]

About all that can be said about the dreaded "service disruption" designation is that Amtrak isn't tracking the progress of the train in its reservation system. The train might still be moving or it might not be - with or without passengers. You have to go to other sources to find out what's really happening.

jb

I've always thought of a service disruption as more of a "We know where the train is, but we're not going to tell you unless you call and pry it out of an agent."

I'm curious what the business rules are regarding application of the service disruption flag, because it doesn't seem to be consistent. For example, I've seen trains involved in grade crossing accidents running 9 hours late have no service disruption. On the flip side, I've seen trains under disruption due to something totally minor with very little delay.

 

[Lonestar648]

I think in this case Amtrak may be forced into using buses until the tracks are not flooded and the host railroad approves passenger traffic again. The timing maybe an unknown to Amtrak especially until the host railroad inspects the damage.

 

[Asher]

Looks to me like they may have bussed the West bound #1 passengers to the east bound #2 at San Antonio and then headed back to Los Angeles with that train, must be bussing the east bound passengers. Just my guess.

 

[MiniMax]

[SIZE=14pt]I've been using this site (http://asm.transitdocs.com) for keeping track of Amtrak trains. But trains 1 and 2 are still oddly represented in colorless designations with the "service disruption" message. There has been a lot of flooding between Houston and New Orleans this year. Let's hope and pray that the bridges and tracks are safe and the Sunset Limited is not in danger of being eliminated. [/SIZE]

 

[Lonestar648]

The news reports show lots of flooding in Houston today and yesterday. Unfortunately, another round is forecast for tonight and tomorrow.