CHICAGO — Amtrak’s PTC issues have stretched into a third day and is leading to widespread National Network cancellations, although the company no longer has a notification of the problem on the front page of its website.
As of 8:15 a.m. CDT today (Sunday, March 26), the Amtrak Alerts Twitter feed is listing the following cancellations of these scheduled long-distance departures:
— The westbound Capitol Limited, from Washington D.C. to Chicago.
— The westbound New York-Washington-Chicago Cardinal.
— The northbound City of New Orleans, from New Orleans to Chicago.
— Westbound sections of the Lake Shore Limited, from New York and Boston to Chicago.
— Eastbound sections of the Empire Builder, from Seattle and Portland to Chicago.
Saturday evening long-distance cancellations included the eastbound Cardinal, southbound City of New Orleans, eastbound Lake Shore Limited, and eastbound Capitol Limited. Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari told WGN-TV that just one train departed Saturday of the 24 that were scheduled.
Sunday morning Amtrak Midwest cancellations include:
— Lincoln Service trains (Chicago-St. Louis route) Nos. 300, 301, 302, and 306.
— Kansas-St. Louis-Chicago Missouri River Runner/Lincoln Service train No. 318.
— Chicago-Quincy, Ill., Carl Sandburg and Illinois Zephyr trains Nos. 380, 381, and 382.
— Port Huron, Mich.-Chicago Blue Water train No. 365.
— Wolverine trains (Chicago-Pontiac, Mich., route) Nos. 350, 351, and 353.
— Amtrak Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee, trains Nos. 331, 332, 334.
The Northeast Corridor Alerts Twitter feed indicates some Empire Service trains are originating or terminating in Albany because of the server issues.
The cancellations began Friday [see “PTC issues cause Amtrak cancellations …,” Trains News Wire, March 24, 2023] and were widespread on Saturday [see “Server issues continue to disrupt …,” News Wire, March 25, 2023].
— Updated at 10:15 a.m. CDT with additional information.
It’s not Amtrak not wanting the trains to run. It’s the FRA NOT ALLOWING them to run.
Why does Trains keep referring to an Amtrak server issue? The back end servers, as far as I know, are not under the control of either the host railroads or Amtrak, but instead are maintained and operated by whomever the PTC system was purchased from, at least that is how most software systems of this type are set up. Unless Amtrak thought they had the IT staff capable of maintaining and operating such a complex system of software/servers?
Looks like Amtrak is making progress in restoring service. #5 and #21 have both departed Union Station on time according to Transit Docs.
What a disgusting crap organization Amtrak has become. We are owed a statement from Gardner along with his resignation
We need to withhold any speculation. There is absolutely no statements by any one even just possibly of knowing what is happening. There is not anything from management of Amtrak including the Amtrak spokesman. No FRA, nothing from freight RRs that are having these problems. A code of silence makes one wonder. A possible hacking ???
Note: All ACSES routes are operating with any problem Amtrak and others.
Meant to say all ACSES routes not having any problem.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for a detailed explanation. Ever notice how such statements NEVER get into a level of detail as to what actually happened, and instead are just glossed over with a bunch of feel-good PR speak?
Somewhere up in Heaven, railroaders of yesteryear are laughing their heads off on what s#&@show modern railroading has become.
Sine most of Amtrak’s mileage in on freight railroads, why not use the railroads ptc. Another unfunded government mandate.
A title on the group io All Aboard list says,
Sabotage or Incompetence. I’ll add or By Design. Pathetic.
Amtrak trains DO use the freight railroads’ PTC systems, and the carriers can all run on each other’s PTC systems. The data gets shared between them as needed. This appears to only be occurring with Amtrak, and only on some of their routes, so it is quite likely to be exactly what they said, some kind of server issue. It is much better to be cautious than to risk another major railroad disaster right now. Especially when transporting passengers.
With operational performance like this, who would actually buy tickets to ride because they wanted to, rather than because they had no other choice?
This is no way to run a railroad.
Looks like the strategy is to destroy Amtrak in the perception of customers, before they destroy it physically.
I do not know how Amtrak’s PTC system is set up, but this is purely an Amtrak problem. Freight railroads and commuter lines are running fine.
This is what Big Government has brought us. A low-life train driver in California runs through a signal when on his cell phone. So one government mandate and billions of dollars later, we have a signal system that brings railroading to almost a dead halt in almost all the country.
Funny how civilized countries with much bigger governments all run trains better than Amtrak ever did.
(Countries like, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Japan, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway…)
Perhaps you have it backward.
They’re not permitted to run by law.
That Amtrak doesn’t have a backup server or can’t revert to the status quo before the failure is another problem. I’m sure there are many people saying “never again” as they pay last minute air fare or a one-way car rental.
The signals aren’t Amtrak’s.
dead wrong Mr. Mulligan, Amtrak trains can and do run without PTC at the direction of the host railroad dispatchers at a specified speed limit. Management, the complete incompetent bunch, are the problem, and Amtrak Joe has not a clue what is happening and where he and Mayor Pete are.
Unbelievable…… That those trains couldn’t run without PTC working.