Amtrak woes

[philabos]

50 years ago,we had trains that ran between New York and Chicago in 16 hours.
Today the only one left took 13.5 hours to just leave Chicago .
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/08/us/long-amtrak-delay/

 

[185]

Seems they struggle a lot in winter. Was on the corridor to Boston a couple of years ago and the entrance vestibules by the doors were just top to toe with ice.

My delay on Chicago to San Francisco was five hours after (both) the locomotives failed at Reno. Perhaps it's time (and justification) to look abroad and buy foreign trainsets which can handle the harsh winters.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Seems they struggle a lot in winter. Was on the corridor to Boston a couple of years ago and the entrance vestibules by the doors were just top to toe with ice.

Having done the Canadian that was like that as well - fairly normal I was informed, the vestibules aren't sealed.

Neil

 

[TheKnightWho]

It's not surprising that rail does so poorly in the US when it is clearly completely underfunded and in such bad shape.

 

[philabos]

As stated in the article, Amtrak attempted to send the train out with a crew that had 15 minutes left to work before exceeding the hours of service law. With no relief crew immediately available, the private railroad refused to accept the train.

 

[185]

Sounds just like many of our employers over here, working on the expectation and assumption that staff will work through their legally required PNBs or go over the 12-hour rule. Those rules for drivers, conductor/guards, signalling/dispatch tower etc are there to prevent accidents.

The problem with vestibules being iced up led to twenty minute delays smashing doors open at four stops. Worrying if the train had an accident.

 

[duesselmartin]

Many European operators like In Germany, France or the UK also have difficulty in winter weather.
The alpine regions are best prepared but underfunding esp in winter equipment seems to be a world wide problem.