There goes my vacation.

[x-press]

Lo and behold!

97 for the 10th just vanished off the reservation system for a fifth day in a row! Guess I'll be getting a telephone call soon if I don't call them first.

Fortunately, hotel reservations were all canceled before penalty fees were incurred . . . think about that. I knew, just checking the reservations page a couple times a day for a week that the train was almost surely not going to run. Amtrak operations didn't figure it out until now. Did they really think that those cars (some of which are down in Florida) were going to magically get fixed?! There is STILL no statement on the website offering a hint of an explanation or apology to the SOLD-OUT train of non-railfans that just had their vacation squashed.

Shame on Amtrak. It didn't have to be this bad.

JPS

 

[AmtrakFan]

97(10) haesn't been offically canceled yet according to what I'm being told, it is blankted incase they don't have enough cars to run the train.

 

[denmarks]

I found this on the Amtrak web site.

Service Alert: Silver Meteor, Silver Star - Possible Train Delays

Delays may occur on this train due to freight railroad congestion, track work or other operating conditions affecting its schedule. Passengers are encouraged to plan for the possibility of a delay and contact Amtrak at www.amtrak.com or 1-800-USA-RAIL on the day of departure to check the train’s status. We apologize for any inconvenience passengers may experience due to these operating conditions.

 

[x-press]

First, it IS cancelled. I just got the phone call/refund.

Second, that "service warning" has been up for weeks. It has nothing to do with the current cancellations, just delays.

JPS

 

[National Limited]

Additional information from Amtrak web site. I checked on the Palmetto (will be taking it on the 19th) and a link to this info came up. Dosen't address 97 but does give some explanation of other service disruptions.

Service Alert: Carolinian, Palmetto, Auto Train - Service Changes, Cancellations and Delays Between Select Cities

On certain dates starting February 6 through February 23, track work being performed by CSX Transportation south of Rocky Mount, NC, will affect Amtrak’s Atlantic Coast service.

During this period, Palmetto trains 89 and 90 and Carolinian trains 79 and 80 may be canceled entirely or a part of the route may be canceled, as shown below. Other train service options are available for passengers affected by these temporary service cancellations.

For information about alternate dates and times, please speak with your local Amtrak ticket agent or call 1-800-USA-RAIL.

Carolinian Train 79

Canceled Between Richmond and Raleigh February 6 - 9.

Southbound train 79 will operate from New York to Richmond and from Raleigh to Charlotte only. Service will not be provided to or through Petersburg, Rocky Mount, Wilson and Selma-Smithfield.

Carolinian Train 80

Canceled Between Raleigh and New York February 6 - 9.

Northbound train 80 will operate from Charlotte to Raleigh only. Service will not be provided between Raleigh and New York

Palmetto Train 89

Canceled Entirely February 6 - 9, February 13 - 16 and February 21 - 23.

Southbound train 89, which normally operates between New York Penn Station and Savannah, GA, will be canceled.

Palmetto Train 90

Canceled Between Savannah and Petersburg February 6 - 9.

Northbound train 90, which normally originates in Savannah and terminates at New York Penn Station, will operate between Richmond, VA, and New York only. Service will not be provided between Savannah and Petersburg.

Palmetto Train 90

Canceled Entirely February 13 - 16 and February 21 - 23.

Auto Train and Atlantic Coast Service

Delays Southbound Only February 6 - 9, 13 - 16, 21 – 23.

Passengers traveling on Palmetto train 89, Silver Star train 91, Silver Meteor train 97 and Auto Train train 53 may experience delays of approximately 30 to 60 minutes.

We apologize for any inconvenience you may experience.

 

[x-press]

Again, those service disruptions have nothing to do with this, and have been planned for weeks, if not months.

This is a spur-of-the-moment (why?) decision due to a large number of Amtrak cars being sidelined by the FRA. The Meteor has been sidelined five straight days (and counting).

 

[Sam Damon]

Lo and behold!
97 for the 10th just vanished off the reservation system for a fifth day in a row! Guess I'll be getting a telephone call soon if I don't call them first.

Fortunately, hotel reservations were all canceled before penalty fees were incurred . . . think about that. I knew, just checking the reservations page a couple times a day for a week that the train was almost surely not going to run. Amtrak operations didn't figure it out until now. Did they really think that those cars (some of which are down in Florida) were going to magically get fixed?! There is STILL no statement on the website offering a hint of an explanation or apology to the SOLD-OUT train of non-railfans that just had their vacation squashed.

Shame on Amtrak. It didn't have to be this bad.

JPS

I don't think I would have been that pessimisstic... sometimes, reading these boards can do you more harm than good. At the very least, I would have kept a stiff upper lip. You did call 1-800-USA-RAIL to reconfirm your reservations within the past 48 hours, right?

Absent any solid postings from Amtrak's own computers concerning your trip date, it could well be your train would have run. Given how things are, though, I can understand your cancelling hotel rooms to avoid the penalties. After all, it is your money.

This type of fiasco is why the administration wants to zap Amtrak, permanently.

 

[x-press]

I don't think this quite falls into the "fiasco" category (the day-late Meteor of a couple months ago is a better example of that).

I called Amtrak MANY times to see what was happening. The poor people helplessly said it was "in their system" to run. Day after day they said this, day after day it was cancelled. Am I really to believe that operations/maintenance said FIVE STRAIGHT TIMES "there's a reasonable chance we'll run the train tomorrow" only to be completely wrong each and every time?!

I'm not trying to be histrionic or anything, or give "Amtrak is dead to me now" type statements . . . I'll be crawling back before too long. I just have to feel sorry for the passengers that will lose money due to a late cancellation that should have been known about since Saturday.

 

[AmtrakWPK]

The problem with the "this kind of fiasco is why the administration wants to zap Amtrak" is that the fiasco is self-inflicted, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Board and Amtrak's Gunn-less management did a lot of this deliberately. They are doing it at the Administration's behest, so it's also intellectually dishonest for the Administration to then point to it and say that's why Amtrak should be killed.

What better way to cause a drop in ridership of some of it's best trains (91-92-97-98) than by basically screwing a whole week's worth of passengers, one day at a time, and doing it in such a way as to make it impossible for the passengers to get advance warning so that they could get alternate transportation. One more prime example of the moral and ethical bankruptcy of the administration.