NEW YORK — Amtrak is cancelling some trains and operating a modified schedule with others this afternoon as a result of “severe weather issues in the Northeast,” the passenger railroad says in an advisory on its website.
Cancelled trains are:
— Boston-New York Acela Express No. 2190;
— Empire Service trains 280 (Niagara Falls-New York) and 243 (New York-Albany;
— Springfield shuttle trains Nos. 451-490 (Springfield, Mass.-New Haven, Conn.).
Trains operating on only parts of their normal routes include:
— Acela Express No. 2150, operating Washington-New York; cancelled New York-Boston.
— Acela Express Nos. 2151, 2153, and 2155; cancelled Boston-New York, operating New York-Washington.
— Northeast Regional No. 95, cancelled Boston-New York, operating New York-Norfolk, Va.
— Northeast Regional No. 190, operating Washington-New York, cancelled New York-Boston.
— The New York-Toronto Maple Leaf, train No. 63, is cancelled between Albany and Niagara Falls.
— Empire Service No. 284, cancelled Niagara Falls-Albany; operating Albany-New York.
— Empire Service No. 218, operating New York-Albany; cancelled Albany-Niagara Falls.
— Both sections of the eastbound Lake Shore Limited (Nos. 48/448) will terminate at Syracuse. For the New York section, bus service will be provided between Syracuse and Albany; for the Boston section, bus transportation will be provided between Syracuse and Boston.
— The westbound Boston section of the Lake Shore Limited, No. 449, is cancelled between Boston and Syracuse.
Bus transportation will be provided only where indicated. Amtrak says restoration of service is will depend on improved conditions, with Amtrak crews and local contractors working to restore catenary power and clear tracks in affected areas.
Check the Amtrak website or smartphone apps for more information.
In the meantime, In Japan, they can run their passenger/ commuter trains in heavy snow storms without missing a beat.
The answer may lie in litigation. It is so easy to launch a lawsuit at the drop of a hat. Imagine if there were an accident due to weather conditions, and injuries were involved. The lawyers would be lined up to sue. This of course does not only cover RR accidents but nearly every thing you can imagine today. Welcome to today’s world.
I think a bridge and/or track washout was part of the issue in western NY.
In the case of Empire Service trains and the Lake Shore. Flooding in the Utica, NY, area and washouts were the cause of the cancelled trains. Lots of rain and extremely high winds were the causes of other problems. The real issue is that alternative routes of the past are mostly gone.
So if the trains can’t run then buses can run??? Seems Amtrak has it backwards.
Has anyone ever heard of the New York Central Railroad? How many trains did the Central run with six feet of snow across Western New York and Upstate New York?
Yes, somewhere I recollect a Milw. Rd. blurb showing a couple in the dining car while the outside blizzard blew with the caption…you can guess its copy. And I had the privilege of sitting up in the Super Dome Chi.-Columbus, Wisc. likewise in the 1960’s winters with zero visibility. Nice is an understatement.
I agree M Singer. They advertised when everything else ground to a halt, the trains made it thru. Pretty soon Amtrak will be like baseball, a few drops of rain fall & the game is cancelled.
Before the Amtrak state, did the private railroads ever cancel so many trains due to weather?
How did the NYC, PRR, and NYNH&H handle inclement weather? Wasn’t the key hook in advertising by the railroads and The Pullman Company always the consistent point that passenger trains were “the all dependable, all weather route”?
I spent many years on the AT&SF, CB&Q, and CMStP&P throughout the 1960s and early 1970s; never were trains cancelled due snow, rain, floods, etc.