CHICAGO — Amtrak’s list of Midwest train cancellations because of extreme cold weather continues to expand.
Added to the list in an updated advisory issued at 1 a.m. ET today (Monday, Jan. 20) are the following trains that were scheduled to operate today:
— Combined Missouri River Runner/Lincoln Service train No. 318 , the 8:40 a.m. departure from Kansas City to Chicago. Bus transportation will be provided between Kansas City and Chicago, with passengers then accommodated on train No. 306, an 5:40 p.m. departure from St. Louis to Chicago.
— The St. Louis-Kansas City portion of Lincoln Service/Missouri River Runner train No. 319, scheduled to depart Chicago at 9:40 a.m. and leave St. Louis at 3:11 p.m. Bus service will be provided on the cancelled portion.
— Missouri River Runners No. 311 (St. Louis-Kansas City, departing 8:11 a.m.) and 316 (Kansas City-St. Louis, departing 4:05 p.m.). Bus transportation will be provided.
— Lincoln Service trains No. 300 (St. Louis-Chicago, departing 4:30 a.m.), whose passengers will instead take No. 302, departing at 6:25 a.m.; No. 301 (Chicago-St. Louis, 7:15 a.m. departure), whose passengers will instead take train No. 319; and No. 305 (Chicago-St. Louis, departing 5:20 p.m.), whose passengers will now take No. 307, departing 7:10 p.m.
— Saluki No. 390, a 7:30 a.m. departure from Carbondale, Ill., for Chicago. Bus transportation will be provided.
Today’s Midwest and long-distance cancellations now include at least 27 trains. Previously announced cancellations today through Wednesday, Jan. 22, involving the Empire Builder, Sunset Limited, Texas Eagle, City of New Orleans, Hiawatha, Wolverine, Borealis, and Carl Sandburg are detailed in a previous report [see “Amtrak cancels more Midwest trains …,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 17, 2025].
Also cancelled is at least one Northeast Corridor train — Acela No. 2163, scheduled to depart Boston for Washington at 11:05 a.m. It has been cancelled because of “equipment unavailability,” according to the Amtrak NEC Alerts feed on X.com.
It is time for there to be complete open disclosures of the problems causing these cancellations.
1. If it is HEP failure rates just put at least 2 or 3 locos on head end of some trains.
2. Haul Amtrak CMO & upper management + Siemens into a public access hearing to disclose why these problems. Do not allow any supposed NDAs to hobble any testimony, NDA claims could be a real problem otherwise.
Can’t possibly be HEP issues. Didn’t we have a discussion last week about the superiority of electric vs. stream heat? I favored the latter, from bitter experience with the former. (Side note to Newswire – Between having to sign in every separate day I wish to post, with no “keep me signed in” option, and those maddening popups covering the screen as I’m reading a story, I’m thinking of packing it in. Just so you know. One faint voice in the night.)
Daytime high a few degrees above zero in Milwaukee. Nighttime low something like 3 below zero. This is some of the most pleasant, beautiful winter weather you can imagine. What’s Amtrak going to do when real winter weather comes — blizzards, high winds, fifteen below …. we have none of that today.
This is nuts! How many reading these comments have sat in a Geep or SW with barely functioning heaters for an eight hour shift? Even the broken down Penn-Central trains ran on schedule during extreme cold weather events. And this is supposed to be progress? More like regress.
How reliable were the F40s in cold weather in comparison?