From: finfer@optonline.net   
      
   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   
      
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