Snow is forecast for SE Wisconsin. Checked baggage not claimed by airline passengers will likely be shipped to a retail outlet named Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsboro, Alabama which is 50 miles east of Huntsville, Alabama and west of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Amtrak.com or Amtrak Mobile App: Most tickets purchased online can be canceled and refunded online. No matter how bad the weather, trains were on the job Yes with some delays- but on the job. Just another chapter out of Amtrak mgmt playbook to undermine the performance of the LD network to discourage ridership & drive down their ridership numbers which if operating at normal capacity would be sold out & probably surpassing pre-covid ridership. Not enough to wax my skis but enough to cancel the Hiawatha. As they say, when in a hole, stop digging. Is it not time to finally acknowledge Amtrak is in a hole; and has no traction, no matter how many millions the feds have thrown at it since 2020. # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . Union Pacifics line on California coast remains shut down ,. So SW and Amtrak both have big equipment problems. HEP solves the loss of a steam generator for heating, so thats not the problem. Its not about the employees. So maybe it's not quite the ripoff that it used to be.) The plane had developed problems and it had to be pulled out of service. Statement by Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner January 31, 2023. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. So far, nine have agreed. I cannot find anything on Amtrak's website about this. The cancellations, which extend through late March, were announced on Jan. 14. Atlas shrugged. Oops, that answer wasn't quite right. Sign-up for email today! Get flash sales, Amtrak Guest Rewards promotions and account updates sent directly to your inbox. I was dealing with an agent and getting no where on a refund, this was regarding the time it takes to get a refund. Bedroom. Click "Train Status" on the top bar of the homepage and enter a few key pieces of information to learn when a train will be arriving. 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). According to the Amtrak Alerts Twitter feed, the eastbound Chief scheduled to depart Los Angeles today (Wednesday, Feb. 22) has been cancelled due to severe weather conditions, while the westbound Chief that left Chicago on Tuesday, Feb. 21, will terminate in Albuquerque for the same reason. Amtrak said the early cancellations before a strike were meant to avoid passengers becoming stranded mid-route on multiday trips. 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). Posted by blue streak 1 on Friday, July 29, 2022 5:31 AM. (Also, if you buy their ripoff insurance, the vouchers don't expire. Over the intercom, Amtrak staff told passengers the train had to go back north several . As stated above, they appear to be being proactive due to another bad storm and sub-zero temps. Additionally, Amtrak has cancelled Empire Builder departures from Chicago and the West Coast on Tuesday, Dec. 20, and Wednesday, Dec. 21. News & Reviews News Wire Weather leads to cancellations for Southwest Chief, Empire Builder, Other trains experiencing significant delays. You have to speak directly to the refund department. Any ideas on what to do? Ya we are suppose to get a big snow storm later this week here in chicago.. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Amtrak workers are not involved in the labor dispute, but the railroad operates almost all of its 21,000 route miles (33,800 km . I understand they have problems with staffing, but once someone has requested a refund and the trip has been cancelled by Amtrak, why should it take so long to get so much as a response, let alone an actual refund? A 12-hour delay caused by a disabled BNSF Railway freight west of Spokane on Jan. 19 meant there was no equipment for that days eastbound Builder out of Seattle and Portland, Ore. Those trains were canceled. Where are we? Click here to learn about the Unlimited Membership! On a scale of 1-10, Amtrak is a 3, Airlines, for the most part 1. Southwest sells every seat on most flights and schedules its crews four or five takeoffs and landings each day. Value Fare For Value Fare tickets in Coach and Acela Business Class: Enjoy moving trains in breathtaking scenes across the country, all year long. Amtrak operates nationwide intercity passenger trains, running more than 300 trains on 21,200 miles of track. Seriously, We have no transportation policy in this country other than build more freeways, and even that is now past improvement. They are uniformly friendly, decent and helpful. I managed to get a gate attendant at another flight to check my flight. Chicago mechanical does not have a glowing reputation amongst the troops. Get updates and special offers via email from Trains.com brands! White House announces 'tentative' deal to avert rail strike Hiawatha? As a college student in the very early 1960s I rode the PRR both into and out of Chicago in blizzard conditions. No longer can we count on the train as the all weather only form of transsportation to make it through blizzards or bad weather. So I went to the boards showing all incoming and departing flights and now most flights were cancelled. Flying naturally is faster and quicker if flying between the major hubs or major cities. Join Today! Amtrak canceled all of its long-distance routes starting Thursday in response to a potential railroad workers strike. Amtrak canceled all service between Washington D.C. and Boston on Thursday due to impacts from heavy rainfall and flooding associated with the . Joseph C. Markfelder. Times sure have changed. They have said that the railroads decision to slash its workforce by one-third over the last six years have made the job even harder. This includes reservations booked with points. The same trains also wont run this Saturday and Sunday, when temperatures are projected to plunge to near zero. Get the newest photos, videos, stories, and more from Trains.com brands. Click the Status icon at the bottom ribbon and youll have two search options: By Train Number or By Station. A 25 % fee is charged between 120 and 15 days. The problem, no planning/coordination on the part of Amtrak Ops and the host railroadsits that simple. The train that left Chicago on Monday, Jan. 16 lost 3 hours due to a locomotive failure before its first stop and another 12 hours west of Denver waiting for a recrew, and for boulders to be removed from the right-of-way. I called back and the next agent suggested I speak directly to the refund department, I was transfered to them. 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. When canceling an Amtrak Sleeper Accommodation you'll get a full refund to the original form of payment if it is more than 120 days until departure. but that is looking at the models and knowing nothing about weather. They may have done so. Thread starter MIrailfan; . No, the refund form did not ask for a credit card or other method of payment, just asked for train details, booking reference etc. For all that, two planes with mechanical problems, United got me to SeaTac Washington only five hours late. No, but even Amtrak in the earlier 2000's would rarely cancel trains or if they did there would always be bussing. Why do people do this to themselves? Even a brief shutdown would dramatically disrupt the shipping of fuel, chemicals, foods, cars, coal and other imported goods and products. As far as weather cancelations the reality is Amtrak has only been quick to pull the trigger in the last 5 years or so. Weather leads to cancellations for Southwest Chief, Empire Builder. Amtrak Stations: Refunds may be processed at stations with Amtrak ticket offices. Another NEC-centric eastern liberal. She told me I couldnt get a trip on SW to Miami or Fort Lauderdale until the 30thI was returning on the 31st! The email came from http://DoNotReplyATacn.amtrak.com and looks authentic - though I know that can be hard to determine at times. Amtrak suffers more long-distance cancellations, delays: Analysis. 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. An Amtrak train is parked at the platform inside New York's Penn Station, the nation's busiest train hub, which will be closing tracks for repairs causing massive disruptions to commuters in New . Or not. Who knows what time they will arrive in Chicago a couple of days later. Get updates and special offers via email from Trains.com brands! Amtrak operates as an independent corporation and is partially funded through public funds. News & Reviews News Wire Amtrak suffers more long-distance cancellations, delays: Analysis, Empire Builder, California Zephyr, Capitol Limited routes hurt by weather, mechanical setbacks. . Phone: Refunds may be processed by calling 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245). Get updates and special offers via email from Trains.com brands! Amtrak advised customers who are traveling between New York and Washington, D.C., not to board their trains. Thanks for contacting us. The delay came getting longer and my gate was changed 3 times before the gates local board suddenly dropped all reference to my flight. Danovich said her train got delayed twice, first shortly after 9 p.m., about 20 miles north of Vancouver. California Zephyrs continue to operate between Chicago and Emeryville, Calif., but are experiencing various delays, according to the Amtrak Alerts feed, for issues including freight train interference, mechanical delays, and crew rest issues. The strike could put additional strain on the already log-jammed supply chains and could escalate already high inflation costs. Note that Amtrak Vacations has its own separate cancellation policy, which is to only provide vouchers good for two years, which can be transferred to family or friends if you can't use them. All rights reserved (About Us). Amtrak cancellations will hamper holiday travel this year due to the winter storm. The email had a link to a web page via which I could request a refund. 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. 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. Why Sign In? It is really a much different situation than 2015? Ticket Changes and/or Cancellations. Remember when people flocked to passenger trains in bad weather because trains were more reliable even with 25 year old steam heated equipment? Read: Start revving up: Here's when TRON Lightcycle / Run opens at Magic Kingdom. Given the fact we must contend with an inexperienced, small town mayor as a complete novice as Secretary of Transportation, who is just as uninterested in passenger rail as his predecessor was focused on her familys shipping business; it is time to drive the issue directly to the House of Representatives to take appropriate action, including: A small portion of my flights bags showed up 2 hours earlier but they couldnt find the rest. Did the refund page request your credit card information? Danovich said her train got delayed twice, first shortly after 9 p.m., about 20 miles north of Vancouver. Dec 29, 2021 #1 "We wanted to let you know that train #7, the Empire Builder, from Chicago, Illinois on Friday, December 31st, has been CANCELLED due to a service disruption. Amtrak plans to send upgraded, safer train cars to the Pacific NW before replacing the 50-year-old cars on its Northeast Corridor regional trains. by Maverickstation1. Subscribers, sign in to access exclusive content. By that point, her husband was waiting for her at Portland Union Station, having braved the snowy roads from their home in the suburbs south of Portland. On the other hand, two Chief and Empire Builder arrivals were early and one California Zephyr was only 1 hour, 10 minutes late, so on-time performance is possible. Forecasted Severe Winter Weather Causes Service Changes https://t . Subscribers, sign in to access exclusive content. You can always visitAmtrak.comto learn the real-time status of a train. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. The train, along with numerous other stops along the way, makes stops in Detroit, Ann Arbor, Jackson and Kalamazoo. The California Zephyr, which was the train I booked, isn't running that day, though. 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. Just off-hand I can think of about 20 SWA staff if not more, that Ive had friendly and meaningful interactions with while traveling. Amtrak has canceled all long-distance trains nationwide starting Thursday, as it prepares for a possible freight-rail strike that would impact its service and further disrupt the supply chain. Who really made me feel welcome and important as a frequent flier. That includes trains for shorter trips, like to Carbondale . Amtrak's service cancellations of long-distance trains that take effect on Jan. 24 will mean that trains will not depart from their terminal of origin on consecutive days, Trains magazine reported on its website on Monday. Though Empire Builder passengers werent victimized by the cancellations that occurred around the Christmas holidays [see Weather cancellations impact Amtrak , Trains News Wire, Jan 6, 2023], the train did have issues this week. Other commuter railways such as Chicagos Metra have also announced they will be forced to begin cutting service on Thursday. Travel with Amtrak to 867 cities with tickets starting at $0.50. more, You seem to have JavaScript disabled. Passenger trains: the dependable, all-weather alternative. Amtrak cancels Empire Builder, thins Midwest departures in advance of winter storm. An Amtrak train carrying 66 passengers collided with a tractor-trailer in Sharon on Monday, according to Vermont State Police. Sign-up for email today! The trains to be canceled on Thursday are the Auto Train (Washington to. Meanwhile, airlines have their infrastructure of airports and radar monitoring of flights built and maintained by local and federal governments, enabling profitable flights. Amtrak has for along time been the canary in the coal mine for rail. BNSF does not have the personnel to cover any stall. How can a train that left Los Angeles be a westbound? The westbound Empire Builders today and Thursday have also been cancelled. The lack of an action plan to care for Auto Trains marooned passengers during the long delay it took to position a qualified and rested crew prompted a Jan. 18 letter to Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner from four U.S. She told him to go back home when, from an announcement on the intercom, she learned the train now had to wait for a fresh crew to come from Portland because the existing train crew had maxed out how much time they were allowed to work. BNSF certainly does not have the personnel to extract snow bound trains now. How ironic and disgraceful is that? Buses provide alternate transportation on that segment through Feb. 16. There is a way to speak directly to the refund department and not to a reservation agent. Consequences of missing second leg of one-way ticket. Members of one railroad workers union rejected a tentative deal with the countrys largest railroad companies on Wednesday, which include Union Pacific, Berkshire Hathaways and Norfolk Southern. 2) Train to Portland OR then a 1-hour layover. Related: Storm-force winds to sweep Great Lakes during blizzard, waves could top 25 feet. Look at the caption above. Join Today! Value fares allow you to get a full refund if you cancel eight days or more before departure. Normally, there are 10 trains operating per day, including direct services available. Amtrak announced that all long-distance passenger trains have been canceled ahead of a looming freight rail worker strike. 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. if you cancel your ticket 8 days or more . Members enjoy 15% off any purchase in our store. The LOSSAN rail corridor stretches 351 miles from San Diego to San Luis Obispo, with the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, freight, commuter, and long-distance trains sharing the tracks and certain stations. Amtrak said it's canceling three long-distance trips starting on Tuesday amid a looming railway strike that could disrupt the U.S. economy, resulting in lost productivity of $2 billion a day. I would say Wednesday afternoon till Friday night.. maybe saturday by 6am. some towns in this country are not served by Uber or Lyft. Updated at 7:15 a.m. CDT on Thursday, Feb. 23, with status of the eastbound Chief that departed L.A. on Feb. 21. Amtrak's cancellations impacted all long-distance trains beginning Thursday, including the Auto Train between Virginia and Florida, and all its other interstate routes. All. Joseph C. Markfelder. -To what extent were the worst possible decisions to reduce schedules and buy-out or lay-off seasoned operational/maintenance employees attributable to the basic lack of railroad experience in the corporate management and Board; how the dearth of competent and correct decision-making has caused the inordinate delay in conducting scheduled maintenance on equipment; cancelling trains; reducing consists; for the lack of experienced T&E crews, on-board staff, and maintenance/repair; what has been the dollar cost for recruitment and training? There seems to be some discussion on another list that the Empire Builder has been canceled "later this week." When stuff happens the entire show shuts down. Sunday, eastbound Capitol Limited passengers were originally told their train to Washington, D.C., will be delayed departing due to unforeseen mechanical issues, but when the train was eventually cancelled, the reason given was due to severe weather conditions. Although the westbound Capitol that departed Sunday arrived in Chicago two hours late Monday morning, Mondays westbound train was cancelled, even though its eastbound counterpart was scheduled to operate. One Missouri River Runner round trip, the morning train out of St. Louis and afternoon departure from Kansas City, Mo., is also not operating those days. The Zephyr that left Emeryville on Sunday was about 7 hours late before it even turned a wheel. Good thing I didnt, Id be stuck somewhere with no luggage and no hope of getting home. At 5:44 p.m. MST, it was reported to be awaiting a crew change in Winslow, Ariz. Never been asked for my credit card, as the refund goes back directly onto the credit card used. Once crew turn patterns are interrupted for an extended duration, adverse effects are likely to last for days. In this day and age, equipment being adversely effected by the elements, one has to wonder, Wimps, and more Wimps, I grew-up in family of railroaders in the 40s and 50s. There are 12 unions representing 115,000 workers who must vote to approve the tentative deals. @RescueTeam It was booked for April 18 (SF departure). I have been trying to contact Amtrak, yes, but they don't believe in answering email and it looks like I have no choice but to fork out for an expensive international call (or several).