CHICAGO — As subzero temperatures blanketed the country’s mid-section following blizzard conditions that postponed an NFL playoff game in Buffalo, N.Y., travelers counting on Amtrak to provide all-weather transportation scrambled to alter their plans.
Additional trains have been added to previously reported cancellations [see “Amtrak announces another round …,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 10, 2024]. Amtrak’s website posted an updated cancellation list as of 1 p.m. ET today (Sunday, Jan. 14), although the list is not complete.
Whereas most recent cancellations were announced well in advance, several in this batch were of a last-minute nature. The latest cancellations include:
— The Lake Shore Limited and all Empire Service trains west of Schenectady, N.Y., today. Two feet of lake-effect snow is predicted for western New York State.
— The Empire Builder in both directions today, and on Monday, Jan. 15. The Builders leaving Chicago and Seattle/Portland on Monday had been showing “sold out” on www.amtrak.com through Sunday morning, a tactic the company has been using to prevent new reservations on trains it is poised to cancel. Daytime highs in North Dakota ranged from minus-15 to minus-25 degrees Friday through today, with blowing snow but no new accumulation.
— Southwest Chiefs in both directions today. The westbound Chief leaving Chicago on Saturday lost 2 hours in Missouri and 4 hours in western Kansas on its way to Los Angeles, but the eastbound delays over the same stretch of track were about 2 hours.
— The Texas Eagle today over its entire route in both directions, though the advisory indicated it was only cancelled between St. Louis and Chicago.
— Both directions of the City of New Orleans were cancelled today between Carbondale, Ill., and New Orleans, while Saluki round trips encountered significant delays between Champaign, Ill., and Chicago.
A number of state-supported trains in the Midwest were also cancelled today, along with several on Monday; see the Amtrak advisory referenced above for details.
There were other service disruptions preceding and during the weekend. They included several hours’ delays to all Northeast Corridor trains between New York and Philadelphia attributed to a signal outage on Friday, and a multi-hour Empire Service stoppage south of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., in Metro-North territory due to high water on the tracks.
There have also been numerous cancellations, delays, and bus substitutions in the Pacific Northwest for Amtrak Cascades service.
It is important to note operating decisions are always made jointly between Amtrak and its host railroads. News Wire has attempted to obtain the exact decision factors in the past, such as when a weeks’ worth of Empire Builders were cancelled around the Christmas holidays in 2022, but the parties would not disclose specific information.
However, it is reasonable to assume from the today’s list of cancellations that impassable trackage is not completely responsible. Mechanical issued caused cancellations of several Hiawatha corridor round trips during the past week, and getting trains out of Chicago in subzero weather has been problematic throughout Amtrak’s history.
The company has markedly improved communication to already-ticketed passengers with push notifications on mobile devices and emails. But abrupt cancellations, and the company’s problems with operating reliably in cold weather, can’t help but make prospective passengers hesitate about including Amtrak in winter travel plans.
Anecdotally, I am aware of several people stranded around the continent due to airline delays, cancellations, and the grounding of the 737 max 9 planes. 3+ day delays not uncommon as of this writing–if a trip wasn’t cancelled completely…
Interestingly, our Alaska Railroad seems to keep running freight and the skeletal winter passenger service without too many problems, so it can be done…
My wife and I just finished a ride last Tuesday on the Empire Builder and if there is one thing I can say for certain it is whoever made the decision to use the Siemens locomotives on long haul trains should definitely be looking for another occupation.We have been on the Empire Builder 3 times in last 2 years and have yet to make a complete trip from Montana to Chicago without the engines failing for at least 2 hours and everytime anyone asks they say it is just normal.Well it never used to be normal with either the Emds or Ges so how come now it is?
Next thing you’ll say is the Twin Zephyrs (1935), with US designed Winton 201A engines, ran reliably 89 years ago. No, wait, they did.
I just got home more than 24 hours late on an airline. I won’t mention the airline, but Amtrak gets by with this because the competition does it too.
Still, this is a lost opportunity for Amtrak to set itself apart in the marketplace.
The class 1s appear to be gummed up with too long trains unable to pump up air and breaking into.
It can never again be “the way it was” because 1. The protect equipment no longer exists. 2. The extra manpower needed, both onboard and in the yards, no longer exists. 3. Multi-tracks have been cut back or no longer exist. 4. It’s no longer a “the mail must go through” attitude, but rather a “the cost isn’t justified” mindset. This is probably a partial list.
Unacceptable. Two feet of lake effect snow? Childs play in that area.
The past few days have been the worst combination of cold weather and heavy snow people can remember here in SE Wisconsin. But let’s look before this. There were cutbacks to the Hiawatha BEFORE the really bad weather hit, when we had just a few inches of snow and relatively warm weather.
Let’s put this in perspective though. What’s a notably bad snow/ cold week in Milwaukee suburbs is business as usual across the northern tier from Spokane to the Twin Cities. Or in western Canada. Seems to me that Great Northern, CPR, CNR and Northern Pacific went through this stuff every winter and kept going.
Does anyone remember back in June of last year when Gardner stated one reason why Amtrak serves as a feasible intercity travel alternative is because “Amtrak is particularly reliable in bad weather,” as justification for economic viability of the new Twin Cities lines from Chicago to St. Paul/Minneapolis?!