A Rough Week to Travel by Train

[subro]

‘Train from hell’ arrives almost a day late
Passengers complain of 19-hour delay, shortage of food and water

msnbc.com news services

updated 1:31 p.m. ET, Fri., Jan. 8, 2010

Pulling into Chicago almost a full day behind schedule, one Amtrak passenger recounted "the train from hell," and others are vowing they will never use the rail service again.

Amtrak's California Zephyr arrived 19 hours late full of "tired, hungry and stinky" passengers, according to a story posted on WMAQ's Web site.

The train was plagued by severe weather and other mishaps, the Chicago NBC affiliate reported.

The train struck a pickup in Iowa, causing one of the delays, though the biggest culprit was weather.

"There is a pass in Nebraska between two hills where the snow drifts were more than two stories tall," Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari told WMAQ.

Some passengers complained of a short supply of food and water while others criticized Amtrak's crew for not keeping them informed.

The rail service will pay for hotel rooms for passengers who need them, and will offer refunds on a case-by-case basis.

Winter weather prompted Amtrak to suspend service past Minneapolis on Friday, WMAQ reported, and trains between Chicago and Denver have been suspended until tracks can be cleared.

Two separate Amtrak trains are having problems of their own, WMAQ said:

A Denver-bound train that left Chicago arrived 23 hours late.
A San Antonio-to-Chicago train derailed in St. Louis on Thursday, temporarily stranding 176 passengers.

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URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34769488/ns/travel-news/



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[Lunican]

I wonder if they could have gotten through any other way?

[CS Foltz]

Amtrak needs to make it right and at this time of the year........simple preplanning would have cured alot of the potential problems................prior planning prevents piss poor performance! Never violate the 6 P's...never!

[tufsu1]

how does one "preplan" for snowfall that yields 20' high drifts?

[mtraininjax]

What no comments from the great picture miser? Trains are great for hauling freight.

[Jason]

19 hour delay due to extreme weather... I guess they've never flown.

[mtraininjax]

Not quite as bad as the people in the "Chunnel" who were stranded and had to walk, with their luggage through the tunnel back to where they came from. Now that is customer service for you!