CHICAGO — Add westbound Empire Builder for today (Feb. 19, 2025) to Amtrak’s cancellation list, making for a fifth straight day that the Chicago-Seattle/Portland train will have been cancelled in both directions.
The company has also canceled several Northeast Corridor trains today and tomorrow (Feb. 20), as well as Wolverine and Hiawatha trains in the Midwest.
Today’s westbound and eastbound Builder cancellations have not been listed on the Amtrak Alerts social media feed. A query of the train status section of the Amtrak website now shows both as cancelled; the eastbound train was so listed at midday Tuesday, but the westbound train was still shown as operating on Tuesday evening. No reason is offered, although extreme cold warnings continue today in Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota.
Also canceled today in the Midwest: the scheduled 5:43 a.m. departure of Wolverine train No. 351 between Pontiac, Mich., and Chicago; No. 352, a 2:15 p.m. departure from Chicago for Pontiac; the early southbound Hiawatha, a 6:15 a.m. departure from Milwaukee; and the 8:15 a.m. Hiawatha from Chicago to Milwaukee. According to Amtrak Alerts, the Hiawatha cancellations reeflect mechanical issues and equipment unavailability; the Wolverines were scratched because of equipment unavailability and weather-related equipment issues. Bus transportation is being provided for Wolverine passengers; Hiawatha passenger were booked onto the next available train.
According to the Amtrak Northeast social media feed, weather-related cancellations today are Northeast Regional No. 85, a 10:20 a.m. departure from Boston for Washington, while Virginia service trains No. 67 (the overnight train from Boston), No. 93 (a 9:20 a.m. departure from Boston for Norfolk, Va.), and No. 125 (an 11:35 a.m. departure from New York for Newport News, Va.) are all cancelled south of Washington.
The company has also cancelled four Acela trains because mechanical issues: the Philadelphia-Boston segment of train No. 2154, a 7 a.m. departure from Washington; No. 2170, a 3 p.m. Washington-Boston train; No. 2163, an 11:05 a.m. Boston-Washington train, and No. 2173, a 4:15 p.m. Boston-Washington train.
Thursday cancellations on the corridor include train No. 86, a 5:35 a.m. departure from Richmond, Va., for Boston, and operations from Virginia to Washington for three trains: No. 174, a 5:45 a.m. departure from Newport News; No. 84, a 6:14 a.m. departure from Norfolk; and No. 186, a 3:51 p.m. train from Newport News. Those trains are currently scheduled to operate between Washington and New York or Boston.
Southeastern Virginia, southern Maryland, and northeast North Carolina are under a winter storm warning from the National Weather Service for today and Thursday, with up to 12 inches of snow forecast in coastal regions. That warning says travel will be” difficult to impossible” in some areas, and that isolated power outages are possible.
Operating issues on Tuesday included cancellation of the Coast Starlight between Portland and Seattle after a fire in the dining car in Junction City, Ore., according to Junction City Fire and Rescue. The train arrived in Portland four hours late, with buses providing service for the remainder of the route. The Amtrak website currently shows the southbound Starlight departing from Seattle as scheduled this morning.
— Updated at 1:38 p.m. CT with additional Midwest cancellations; updated at 1:46 p.m. with Acela cancellations.
I agree with those here who opined that weather may have to do with cancellations by Amtrak across all lines, not just EB. Poor weather may result in low ridership and thus low revenues. Why Amtrak could not announce or report such is a different question. Love trains, love Trains!
Anybody ever stop to think maybe BNSF has something to say with the EB cancellations lately? If they anticipate enough weather problems of their own do you really think they want another train(s) in the mix, then if the train is late they get penalized. BNSF seems to do a pretty good job otherwise with the EB, why mess up a good relationship forcing them to operate your train when they give you a heads up about potential problems.
Way to go Amtrak!