If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Of course, they don't list it online. There are many ways to get an Amtrak train ticket. This is not something that has to do with changes in railroads staffing from way back when decades ago. They are uniformly friendly, decent and helpful. Find the best deals on Amtrak train tickets and book online directly with Wanderu. . Posted by blue streak 1 on Friday, July 29, 2022 5:31 AM. By the way it looks the nations intercity bus network is almost non exisitant as well. Register today and take advantage of membership benefits. That CSX couldnt run trains in Michigan because there was a hurricane in Florida. The Amtrak Alerts Twitter feed attributes these to mechanical issues; so were both running more than 6 hours late this evening (Monday, Dec. 19). Reports are that the consist of #3(21) that was terminated in Albuquerque has now been combined with the consist of #4(21) in Albuquerque and the combined train left eastbound toward Chicago at about 7:30am Mountain Time today. The company has scheduled daytime trackwork in January and February over the last decade, but at least this year Mardi Gras falls the week after the work is set to conclude. Get flash sales, Amtrak Guest Rewards promotions and account updates sent directly to your inbox. News. Bags of good quality are sold as well. This *and* running a service in these weather extremes is really creating a potential life safety issue that Amtrak is utterly unprepared to handle. Severe weather is also being cited for the cancellation of the eastbound Empire Builder from Seattle and Portland today through Friday, Feb. 24. Who knows what time they will arrive in Chicago a couple of days later. But recurring tardiness on several routes, coupled with reduced equipment availability triggering sellouts and high fares, has posed ongoing issues for the reliability and relevance of the national network. Sign-up for email today! Enjoy moving trains in breathtaking scenes across the country, all year long. [Note: I got 2 phone messages from SW announcing delays but they were always less than what was already shown at the airport. Who has more info about the LSL route cancellation somewhere west of Albany. The Lake Shore Limited is also cancelled until at least Wednesday. All. They sure dont make railroaders and executives like they used to when railroaders and the railroads bravely challenged and ran their trains against the ravages of winter and snow and blizzards to provide service to their customers and people needing to get home for the holidays and visits with family and friends What a shame indeed The 33-year-old newly published author and freelance journalist was happy to return home. Doesn't look like a scam. No, the refund form did not ask for a credit card or other method of payment, just asked for train details, booking reference etc. Fox Business Flash top headlines for September 2. Amtrak suffers more long-distance cancellations, delays: Analysis. It was due in Winslow at 6:18 a.m. (Update: According to Amtraks online train status feature, that train arrived in Albuquerque at 2:46 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23, which would be 15 hours, 26 minutes after its scheduled arrival of 11:20 a.m. on Wednesday.). Amtrak said Friday: Trains 11 & 14 are unable to operate between Seattle and Sacramento due to a temporary track closure by the Union Pacific Railroad. Struggling from a timekeeping standpoint is the eastbound Chief that left Los Angeles on time on Tuesday. From what I can see online, Amtrak does seem to have cancelled many frequencies for the California Zephyr around that date. The trains to be canceled on Thursday are the Auto Train (Washington to Sanford, Florida), Capitol Limited (Washington to Pittsburgh), Cardinal (Washington to Chicago) and the Palmetto (south of Washington to Savannah, Georgia). This story has been shared 156,203 times. The affected routes include some trains in the Northeast Corridor and a New Orleans route. Amtrak announced that all long-distance passenger trains have been canceled ahead of a looming freight rail worker strike. Cascades Train 500 is currently operating approx. 1 Amtrak Alerts @AmtrakAlerts I would say Wednesday afternoon till Friday night.. maybe saturday by 6am. At least 20 train services on the Northeast Corridor were canceled or postponed. Please enter a password. How can a train that left Los Angeles be a westbound? @RescueTeam It was booked for April 18 (SF departure). No longer can we count on the train as the all weather only form of transsportation to make it through blizzards or bad weather. While private enterprise does some things well, under current finacialist ideology too many parts of our economic life have broken down. CN reaches paid sick time agreements with four unions in U.S. 2023 National Garden Railway Convention is in Santa Clara, Second Vancouver, B.C., Cascades round trip set to roll Monday. @ [ \ ] ^ _ ` < | > ~. It is really a much different situation than 2015? Amtrak announced the additional cancellations of Wednesday after it canceled 10 long-distance trains earlier this week. I don't want to do the SF-Portland-Chicago route (it was mostly about the views through the midwest for me, and spending two days on a train, rather than with a stopover). Of course, they don't list it online. However, their souls are in another dimension as their remains are interred. If they had flown, they would have been in Chicago by lunch time and for far less money if they were travelling by sleeper and less hassle. Normally, there are 10 trains operating per day, including direct services available. Phone: Refunds may be processed by calling 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245). All of them were at least 2 hours late. So I went to the boards showing all incoming and departing flights and now most flights were cancelled. So far, nine have agreed. Fun times. Passwords should be at least 10 characters long and include 1 uppercase and 1 lowercase alpha character, 1 number and 1 special character. Amtrak has suspended some of its most storied and picturesque routes this week in preparation for an impending rail worker strike that could further upend supply chains and damage the US economy.. Flying naturally is faster and quicker if flying between the major hubs or major cities. Ticketed passengers can book a later train or get a refund. There I stood in line for over 2 hours until I could get to the single ticket representative who somehow was managing to hold on to her sanity. CHICAGO Weather is taking its toll on current operations of Amtraks western long-distance trains. With one set of Auto Train equipment out of position, both departures were canceled the following day to reset the service; it has been mostly been running on time ever since. There seems to be some discussion on another list that the Empire Builder has been canceled "later this week." The train still hadnt moved about an hour later because, Danovich said passengers were told over the intercom, the signal lights needed to be cleared of snow. Cancellations after 24 hours: You will receive an eVoucher worth 75% of the price of your ticket, which you can use to book future Amtrak tickets. Amtrak has canceled about two dozen trains, blaming bad weather and COVID-19 cases among workers. A 25 % fee is charged between 120 and 15 days. Southwest totally let me down yesterday. Oh, Southwest Airlines. Just got an announcement that the water is frozen in the dinning car and can only serve beef stew. Amtrak announced the cancellation of three long-distance, nationwide routes that rely on freight lines beginning on Tuesday, citing a potential strike from railroad workers by the end of this week. Get updates and special offers via email from Trains.com brands! I will use my balance on the NEC traveling 1st class on the Acela then no more Amtrak for me. ! " It now seems like nothing is dependable or reliable or even weather resistant. The cancellation of todays eastbound Chief comes after the westbound Chief that left Chicago on Monday, Feb. 20 the train that would be turned for todays departure arrived in Los Angeles at 4:13 p.m., 8 hours, 13 minutes late and less than two hours ahead of its scheduled 5:55 p.m. departure. Ian, a reporter with the Washington Post, did some investigating, and here you go. Union Pacifics line on California coast remains shut down ,. In my frequent flights over the last ten years or so, Ive been delayed twice. If delayed, the average for each routes eastbounds hovered in the 3- to 4-hour range, enough to miss most Midwest Corridor connections. Even a brief shutdown would dramatically disrupt the shipping of fuel, chemicals, foods, cars, coal and other imported goods and products. CHICAGO While sub-zero cold and blizzard conditions had begun to moderate somewhat across much of the Midwest toward the end of the holiday weekend, Amtrak has continued to cancel trains on less than 24 hours' notice for "mechanical" and "manpower" issues, as well as the weather. A few inches. Joseph C. Markfelder. The cancellations beginning Tuesday impact three routes that run between Chicago and the West Coast along Amtrak's Southwest Chief, California . As a college student in the very early 1960s I rode the PRR both into and out of Chicago in blizzard conditions. # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . News. Subscribers, sign in to access exclusive content. Why Sign In? In response to an emailed summary of Danovichs account, an Amtrak representative said the train was delayed about two hours and 40 minutes because of challenges with the switches and referred questions about track conditions to the BNSF Railway company. The. The. Enjoy moving trains in breathtaking scenes across the country, all year long. Would that any with authority and interest to change the things you cite take up your cause. That condition is not slogging through heavy snow. I called Amtrak to see if I could get on a train to Miami but they didnt have anything available until the 30th. Danovich said her train got delayed twice, first shortly after 9 p.m., about 20 miles north of Vancouver. Auto train is a pretty big train so when they have to cancel it means having to accommodate a lot of people and cars on an alternate date so I'm sure they only cancel the next day when they have no choice. That route is staffed with only enough qualified engineers and conductors to handle one daily train, the Silver Star, not Amtraks 50-car hybrid or the daily Silver Meteor and Palmetto, all manned out of the Fayetteville, N.C., crew base on CSXs A Line.. Now that it has been established that trains cant and are no match for Mother Nature or Old Man Winter, both the airlines and highways can now claim total and complete victory over all rail travel even if it is not the safest way to travel in rough weather but thank the bumblers running Amtrak who are conceding defeat and handing over all travel options to other forms of transportation. True it wasnt the fastest way or the most comfortable way of traveling but the bus got through somehow and cheaper too. So was the westbound departure out of Chicago on Jan. 21, because Amtrak now lacks enough serviceable Superliners to act as a Windy City protect fleet for its western trains. Congress has the power to block the strike, as it has done in past national rail-labor disputes, but its not clear whether they would act in this instance ahead of midterm elections. Snow is forecast for SE Wisconsin. _ @ " $ # ,). Why it matters: It's the latest disruption stemming from the looming labor strike that could start as soon as Friday, which would lead to a shutdown of most of the country's railway system. If Amtrak truly kept all the mech staff on during covid with the money Congress gave them shouldnt they have used that time to work on maintenance & repair backlogs? It has been reported by passengers with upcoming reservations that a number of trains have been cancelled over. The unions who represent conductors and engineers who drive trains have held out hoping the railroads address additional issues, such as their strict attendance policy making it difficult to take time off. No, but even Amtrak in the earlier 2000's would rarely cancel trains or if they did there would always be bussing. Unlimited Members, sign in to enjoy sitewide access. The passengers were not happy but didnt take it out on them. Another NEC-centric eastern liberal. Ensure a safe, slow approach from others with this railroad-themed logo mask! CHICAGO None of the individual delays that befell numerous cross-country Amtrak trains during the last week were as lengthy or dramatic as the 37-hour ordeal experienced by more than 500 Auto Train passengers on Jan. 12. Joseph C. Markfelder. That permitted its cars and locomotives to turn back to Chicago the same day, rather than miss a timely eastbound departure after completing the westbounds off-schedule trek to the Bay Area.