WASHINGTON — Amtrak has announced schedule changes for some Northeast Corridor trains because of heat orders issued by CSX Transportation.
A brief alert posted by Amtrak on its NEC social media feed says “CSX, the owner and maintainer of the tracks, issues heat orders notifying Amtrak that the maximum speed of passenger trains are reduced with high temperatures and temperature fluctuations. Heat orders may cause delays of 5-20 minutes, and frequently occur between the months of May and August.”
Given that most of Amtrak’s operations in the Northeast Corridor are on Amtrak-owned trackage, the alert is for Northeast Regional trains that begin or end in Virginia.
Amtrak’s alert advises passengers to check the Amtrak mobile app or Amtrak.com for updated information on train status.
The advisory was effective as of Monday and continues through Sept. 2.
— Updated to clarify alert is focused on Virginia service.
Roanoke, Virginia is on Norfolk Southern Railway. Through passenger trains of Southern Railway were pooled over Norfolk & Western Railway between Monroe and Bristol with the honour of being powered by N&W’s J-Class 4-8-4’s until 1958. [At age 6, I had the privilege of travelling aboard two such trains towards the end, the ‘Birmingham Special’ and the ‘Tennessean’.]
Amtrak has its own heat criteria and will apply them as necessary.
The CSX portion is the old RF&P between Washington and Richmond.