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Some passengers had been enduring one of many worst journeys ever Tuesday as winter climate continued to wreak havoc not only with road travel but in addition Amtrak trains, the place stranded passengers mentioned they had been coping with overflowing bogs and an absence of meals.
Amtrak’s Crescent, which left New Orleans on Sunday on its technique to New York, acquired caught north of Lynchburg, Virginia, on Monday morning, returned to Lynchburg and remained there till lastly heading northbound once more late Tuesday afternoon. Officers mentioned downed bushes had been blocking the tracks.
Earlier Tuesday, passenger Sean Thornton mentioned in a cellphone interview that the railroad was offering meals, however bogs had been overflowing and passengers had been livid. The Richmond, Virginia, resident was in a sleeping automobile with a non-public bathroom, however he mentioned coach passengers had been struggling “a wretched, wretched expertise” with vehicles reeking of overflowing bogs.
“I get it that there are climate situations,” mentioned Thornton, who was touring from Atlanta to Charlottesville, Virginia. “The true failure right here was communication and administration involvement.”
Amtrak spokesperson Kimberly Woods wrote in an electronic mail that the practice would go on to New York, the place it was purported to arrive on Monday, as soon as the tracks had been clear.
Thornton mentioned that the practice crew supplied no data after the practice parked north of Lynchburg for hours Monday with out cell service, till lastly backing as much as the town round midnight, with no phrase on what got here subsequent. He mentioned the practice ran out of meals Monday and that passengers weren’t supplied something to eat till McDonald’s was dropped at the practice round midmorning Tuesday.
Thornton additionally mentioned a member of the practice crew yelled at passengers over the general public deal with system on Monday to cease complaining to them, as an alternative telling them to name Amtrak’s 1-800 quantity.
“If they’ll really transfer this practice, nice,” Thornton mentioned after practically 40 hours. “But when they waste one other day attempting to determine it out, persons are actually going to lose endurance.”
Malcolm Kenton of Washington, D.C., mentioned he and his aunt walked away from the practice after it returned to Lynchburg and hitched a trip to a resort a number of miles. He mentioned he and his aunt are attempting to lease a automobile or catch a practice on Thursday as a result of they don’t wish to wait on the station for an unscheduled departure.
“We’ve just about given up on getting again on the identical practice,” Kenton mentioned in a Tuesday cellphone interview from his resort. A longtime Amtrak rider, he mentioned he nonetheless prefers the practice to driving or flying, however mentioned the present delay is “among the many worst” he’s ever encountered. He mentioned it looks like downed bushes might have been cleared extra shortly.
“Amtrak doesn’t appear to do properly in dealing with these scenario after they come up,” Kenton mentioned.
A separate practice sure from Roanoke, Virginia, to Washington, D.C., acquired caught on the identical tracks, mentioned Tamera Ferguson of Lynchburg. She mentioned her son spent 14 hours on the practice earlier than it returned to Lynchburg after 1 a.m. Tuesday. She mentioned the railroad didn’t provide stranded passengers different transportation or accommodations.
The Daily Progress of Charlottesville reported a practice southbound from Charlottesville, Virginia, to Lynchburg had additionally been delayed as a result of downed bushes, whereas Amtrak reported that its New York-bound Silver Star practice, which left from Miami, remained stopped at Richmond Tuesday morning due to downed bushes.
Quite a few New York-New Orleans Crescents departing on Tuesday and later days had been canceled. Amtrak on Tuesday additionally canceled each instructions of the Piedmont, which runs between Raleigh, and Charlotte in North Carolina, as properly the northbound Palmetto from Savannah, Georgia, to New York, and the northbound Auto Prepare, which operates from Sanford, Florida, to Lorton, Virginia.
The corporate additionally mentioned it’s working “modified” service on another routes on the Northeast Hall between Washington and Boston and on different trains south of Washington.
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