From: nilknocgeo@earthlink.net
"Michael Finfer" wrote in message
news:DbsLw.1053638$Mn4.23129@fx12.iad...
> On 3/9/2015 7:59 PM, conklin wrote:
>> "conklin" wrote in message
>> news:hpadnaaINslibmDJnZ2dnUU7-bednZ2d@earthlink.com...
>>> Amtrak's Carolinian derailed today at 12:15 in Halifax, NC, due to the
>>> track being blocked by a oversized tractor trailer which had been trying
>>> to turn onto Route 301 for about 15 minutes. No one notified the RR.
>>>
>>> http://abc11.com/news/amtrak-train-slams-into-truck-in-halifax/550657/
>>>
>>> No one seemed to be seriously hurt. Later photos showed school buses,
>>> but
>>> if they were there to pick up passengers or just trying to get to a
>>> school
>>> was left unclear. Passengers were taken to an "agricultural center,"
>>> whatever that is.
>>>
>>
>> Evening news had about 10 minutes on this accident, which was filmed by a
>> cell camera. They said passengers would be taken by bus to DC and then
>> they
>> would continue on by bus or rail. I wonder what Amtrak arranged.
>> Anything?
>> Does anyone know how these issues are settled? What happens to
>> passengers?
>>
>>
>
> The rule is, as I understand it, as I was stranded in Chicago by the huge
> lake effect snow in Buffalo in November, is if you stick with Amtrak, they
> will take care of you and get you, eventually, to your destination. If
> you arrange alternate transportation, you are on your own.
>
> Amtrak did not handle my situation with grace. I was on a four hour late
> Texas Eagle headed for a connection with the Lake Shore Limited in
> Chicago. A couple of hours out of Chicago, I got a phone call from Julie
> stating that train 48 is cancelled today, and no alternate transportation
> will be provided. The call ended at that point, with no explanations and
> no instructions on what to do or what the rules were.
>
> I went to the conductor, who had not heard about the cancellation yet. He
> later told me that no final decision had been made about train 48. Why
> they would send out calls like that before a final decision was made is
> beyond me.
>
> As it turned out, train 49 arrived Chicago about the same time that we
> did, about 5:40 PM. I was told that I could take the next day's train,
> and they would pay for meals and the hotel, or I could arrange alternate
> transportation and they would give me a refund for train 48. Since I
> needed to be at work the day after I was supposed to get back, and because
> there were no sleepers available on train 30 that day, I chose to fly
> back. I got about $300 back from Amtrak, and I spent a little over $700
> on hotel, meals, and air fare. It was a good decision because trains 48
> and 49 were cancelled the next three days.
>
> I have some quibbles with the way the notification was handled. They
> should have waited for a final decision before calling, and those calls
> should have been made by a person, not a computer. That would have been
> much better customer service and would have avoided long waits in Union
> Station. I suspect that the conductor on train 22 could have booked a
> sleeper on train 30 for me on his I-phone if one had been available,
> though.
>
> Michael Finfer
> Bridgewater, NJ
I guess when the weather gets bad, routes which have some backup work
better. The Amtrak Carolinian derailed on a piece of single-track and
apparentloy there are no ways around that. Here is a link to 20 pictures.
At first glance, it looks like a piece of rural factory track, not a vital
link on the East coast. And a relatively low speed piece of track at that,
which apparently is what prevented even more injuries.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article13163597.html
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