Westbound Wolverine 355 2 Hours Late

[reppin_the_847]

I am typing this from the train. Just boarded in Ann Arbor a few minutes ago. Apparently there was some sort of motorcade / security service related security detail involving Joe Biden in the Metro Detroit area that heavily delayed this Amtrak train headed westbound towards Chicago. Doesn't make much sense to me because Joe isn't onboard the train lol. Apparently this train sat near Royal Oak for quite a while. The Amtrak status updates on the app and online weren't giving anything. The employees at the Ann Arbor station kept us somewhat updated on the situation.

 

[Anderson]

My best guess is that the motorcade had to show up at a grade crossing somewhere or something like that.

 

[the_traveler]

That would be my guess also. Or maybe the rails were next to a road in the motorcade's route. (I'm not familiar with the route.)

 

[reppin_the_847]

That would be my guess also. Or maybe the rails were next to a road in the motorcade's route. (I'm not familiar with the route.)

Regardless, the delay was very annoying & seemed very unnecessary to say the least. Do you think they would hold up trains in the Northeast Corridor or in Washington D.C. for these same people?

We have very limited # of trains to begin with in the Midwest and because of these politicians the very little that we have has to get held up. Absolutely ludicrous.

 

[philabos]

They will and they did. The inauguration train in 2009 shut down the entire NEC from Philadelphia to DC.

 

[reppin_the_847]

They will and they did. The inauguration train in 2009 shut down the entire NEC from Philadelphia to DC.

At least if I'm not mistaken there were actual politicians onboard that train.

The only good that came out of this IMO is that I called into Customer Relations like clockwork this morning and had an electronic travel certificate generated equal to the amount of my business class seat from Ann Arbor to New Buffalo. Until Amtrak can find a way to run on time, I will continue exercise this practice.

Rather than drive to the Chicago suburbs as I usually do, I ended up having to lodge at a hotel in New Buffalo before hitting the road straight to my office in the SW suburbs this morning.

Btw, I arrived into New Buffalo 3 hours & 18 minutes late last night. The train ultimately arrived into Chicago 2 hours & 56 minutes late.

 

[Ryan]

They will and they did. The inauguration train in 2009 shut down the entire NEC from Philadelphia to DC.

At least if I'm not mistaken there were actual politicians onboard that train.

The gate area at WAS was routinely interrupted, delaying trains when Biden would roll through.

 

[jis]

This is not just about trains. Each time any high muckity muck shows up from any country at EWR or JFK for UN General Assembly or whatever, mayhem on the roads around them ensue. It has just become part of life so it is not news anymore for anyone.

 

[Bob Dylan]

President Obama and many VIPs, including ex-Presidents and assorted Political cantidates, visit Austin regularly ( it's a Gold Mine for Fund Raising) and tie up the Airport and Major Roads, including I-35, for Hours!

We've ask many times why the Prez, ex- Prezs and the Veep don't use Helicopters since the Motorcades consist of Black SUVs with tinted windows that speed by and no-one even knows who's in them!! ( Security they say but isn't a chopper more secure?)

 

[JayPea]

I thought Joe Biden was a friend of Amtrak? :lol:

 

[reppin_the_847]

I thought Joe Biden was a friend of Amtrak? :lol:

Yeah I thought so too. The irony in all of this is incredible. He's like a cheerleader for Amtrak and a former NEC commuter yet he indirectly manages to screw up us Midwest hoi polloi & our regional commute.

 

[Paul CHI]

Many of these clowns also get airspace shut down when they travel. Then there's the entire "do not fly" circle around Washington DC, as if there was anything worth protecting from a 180hp Cessna.

 

[Acela150]

They will and they did. The inauguration train in 2009 shut down the entire NEC from Philadelphia to DC.

At least if I'm not mistaken there were actual politicians onboard that train.

The only good that came out of this IMO is that I called into Customer Relations like clockwork this morning and had an electronic travel certificate generated equal to the amount of my business class seat from Ann Arbor to New Buffalo. Until Amtrak can find a way to run on time, I will continue exercise this practice.

Rather than drive to the Chicago suburbs as I usually do, I ended up having to lodge at a hotel in New Buffalo before hitting the road straight to my office in the SW suburbs this morning.

Btw, I arrived into New Buffalo 3 hours & 18 minutes late last night. The train ultimately arrived into Chicago 2 hours & 56 minutes late.

Cause It's Amtrak's fault that roads were closed. You want to blame someone it's not Amtrak.

I thought Joe Biden was a friend of Amtrak? :lol:

Yeah I thought so too. The irony in all of this is incredible. He's like a cheerleader for Amtrak and a former NEC commuter yet he indirectly manages to screw up us Midwest hoi polloi & our regional commute.

He isn't a former NEC commuter. He still rides Acela to Wilmington many Friday evenings.

 

[jis]

You'd be amazed at how many Congresscritters vote against Amtrak and at the next moment walk down the hill to Union Station to catch an NEC train to BWI or Baltimore or Philly or New York. Indeed, there even are some who realize the irony and even vote for Amtrak before doing so even though otherwise they might have abstained or voted against!

 

[Anderson]

I'm from Newport News. The local airport is used for touch-and-go tests for Air Force One (at one point the local Republican HQ was regularly getting overflown by that plane; the irony was not lost on anyone there), but more annoying was during the 2012 campaign when Obama kept coming to places like Hampton University...which meant that he'd touch down at Newport News-Williamsburg International and his motorcade would then drive the roughly 10 miles to Hampton University, completely fouling traffic. By the time all was said and done, I think there were more than a few locals that would have been happy to dis-invite him (or at least direct the cops to decline to man the road closures) on the basis of the costs of the traffic disruptions.

Edit: I'd love to see the reaction of a number of well-informed passengers when some anti-Amtrak Congressman casts such a vote and promptly bolts to board a train.

 

[reppin_the_847]

They will and they did. The inauguration train in 2009 shut down the entire NEC from Philadelphia to DC.

At least if I'm not mistaken there were actual politicians onboard that train.

The only good that came out of this IMO is that I called into Customer Relations like clockwork this morning and had an electronic travel certificate generated equal to the amount of my business class seat from Ann Arbor to New Buffalo. Until Amtrak can find a way to run on time, I will continue exercise this practice.

Rather than drive to the Chicago suburbs as I usually do, I ended up having to lodge at a hotel in New Buffalo before hitting the road straight to my office in the SW suburbs this morning.

Btw, I arrived into New Buffalo 3 hours & 18 minutes late last night. The train ultimately arrived into Chicago 2 hours & 56 minutes late.

Cause It's Amtrak's fault that roads were closed. You want to blame someone it's not Amtrak.

I thought Joe Biden was a friend of Amtrak? :lol:

Yeah I thought so too. The irony in all of this is incredible. He's like a cheerleader for Amtrak and a former NEC commuter yet he indirectly manages to screw up us Midwest hoi polloi & our regional commute.

He isn't a former NEC commuter. He still rides Acela to Wilmington many Friday evenings.

Then maybe I should blame Joe Biden. I'm sure he could have made a phone call to prevent the train (which he wasn't even a passenger on) from having to sit unnecessarily near Royal Oak for two hours for his motorcade. Even though the whole situation was irritating, I was grateful that Amtrak's customer relations team chose to compensate me for the hassle at least.

On a side note (since you're from Massachusetts), it would be very nice if we had Acela out here in the Midwest but I know that's not going to happen ANY time soon. The only Amtrak trains I've been on that have touched the East Coast include the Lake Shore Limited to NYC, the Capitol Limited to DC (and the Silver Meteor connecting to FL from WAS), the Keystone Service from Harrisburg to PHL & NYC and an NEC Regional from NYC to WAS.

 

[Ryan]

Sitting for two hours doesn't sound like it was just that.

 

[reppin_the_847]

Sitting for two hours doesn't sound like it was just that.

In this case it was. At least that's what the employees at Ann Arbor told me.

 

[Ryan]

Sitting for two hours doesn't sound like it was just that.

 

[Triley]

Just so you know, I looked in to it and there was also a scheduled signal outage that did nothing but make the delay worse. And then the train was also held up to let 354 meet up with it, so 355 could be recrewed.

Also, I don't really understand why you're mad at Amtrak? If someone high up in government is around, security really tightens up and trains, planes, buses all grind to a halt in that surrounding area as required. That decision isn't left up to the company.

I found an article on TrainOrders from a few years ago. http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,1593607 Might be worth taking a look at.

 

[Alexandria Nick]

Then there's the entire "do not fly" circle around Washington DC, as if there was anything worth protecting from a 180hp Cessna.

No, there isn't a no fly zone around Washington.

P-56 is designed to protect the White House, Capitol, monuments and museums from accidents. There is an airport, like, right there on top of them and take offs and landings account for the overwhelming majority of accidents. Its a very, very small area (about five square miles). There's also a small one over Mount Vernon. Nobody can accidentally destroy the National Gallery if you can't go anywhere near the place.

The Washington ADIZ is huge and encompasses the entire region and that definitely isn't a no fly zone.

 

[Ryan]

Given the number of hoops that you have to jump through to fly anywhere in the ADIZ, it's very much like a no-fly zone unless you're flying a scheduled airliner or military (or flying a gyrocopter, it seems).

Just so you know, I looked in to it and there was also a scheduled signal outage that did nothing but make the delay worse. And then the train was also held up to let 354 meet up with it, so 355 could be recrewed.

Interesting. It almost sounds like...

Sitting for two hours doesn't sound like it was just that.

Thanks for looking that up, Triley - you're a fountain of useful information.

 

[reppin_the_847]

Just so you know, I looked in to it and there was also a scheduled signal outage that did nothing but make the delay worse. And then the train was also held up to let 354 meet up with it, so 355 could be recrewed.

Also, I don't really understand why you're mad at Amtrak? If someone high up in government is around, security really tightens up and trains, planes, buses all grind to a halt in that surrounding area as required. That decision isn't left up to the company.

I found an article on TrainOrders from a few years ago. http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,1593607 Might be worth taking a look at.

I'm not necessarily as upset with Amtrak as I am with uppity politicians in general (from every political party). It is appalling that we all have to bend over backwards for them in these types of situations. Makes no sense when Biden was not even a passenger on the train and the train posed no threat to Biden whatsoever. Either way, Amtrak compensated me with a travel certificate equal the amount of my business class ticket so at least I got my money's worth from them for creating this unexpected hassle. A hassle that caused me to have to lodge in a motel in New Buffalo out of my own expense rather than drive the 2 hours to central Lake County, IL (north of Chicago) which was my intended destination that evening. My vehicle had been sitting in New Buffalo for the weekend. My office is in the La Grange area southwest of Chicago. I've been doing this trip weekly for family related reasons and it can be a royal pain in the butt. In the winter I tend to originate the trip from Chicago's Union Station rather than New Buffalo, MI.

If I ever become wealthy I doubt that I will be greasing any politicians' pockets with my money.

 

[Ryan]

You read the part where there were a lot of other things that delayed you, right?

Trust me, the politicians don't like it any more than you do. Perhaps if people would stop shooting them, it'd be a little less painful for everyone.

 

[Acela150]

Just so you know, I looked in to it and there was also a scheduled signal outage that did nothing but make the delay worse. And then the train was also held up to let 354 meet up with it, so 355 could be recrewed.

Also, I don't really understand why you're mad at Amtrak? If someone high up in government is around, security really tightens up and trains, planes, buses all grind to a halt in that surrounding area as required. That decision isn't left up to the company.

I found an article on TrainOrders from a few years ago. http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,1593607 Might be worth taking a look at.

Makes no sense when Biden was not even a passenger on the train and the train posed no threat to Biden whatsoever.

Tell that to the Secret Service... I have been on an Acela train with Biden as VP. This was last February. I was joy riding that day. I came from NYP to DC on 2163. As soon as 2163 stopped the secret service was going over every inch of that Acela set. I went to the lounge to find several secret service agents with dogs and all kinds of stuff that we're not allowed to know what it is. I get on the train back to PHL. Same train set. Secret Service up and down the platform. I normally take photos of the train(s) before boarding but wisely decided against it with the amounts of Secret Service. I get on the train in the FC car. Every passenger was instructed to sit past a certain point in the car. The train only stopped at BAL. At BAL an Amtrak Cop and his dog walked from the QC to the FC car and through the FC car. At WIL the train stopped. VP Biden got off while the rest of the train waited to get off. Scores of Secret Service at WIL.