CHICAGO — Amtrak continues to assess efforts to operate in subzero Midwest temperatures and make cancellation decisions less than 24 hours before departures.
In a remarkably candid email addressed this morning to “Supporter of Passenger Rail” and obtained by Trains News Wire, Amtrak’s veteran Chicago-based government affairs director, Derrick James, outlined the latest cancellations through Wednesday.
He explains, “Amtrak leadership will continue to marshal its workforce in shops and maintenance facilities to get equipment that has failed because of extreme temperatures back in service as quick as possible. The extended brutal dip in temperatures will, frankly, make that challenging in the coming days.”
James adds, “Our priority will remain keeping customers safe, so in some instances not dispatching trains into conditions that jeopardize our passengers and crews is the wisest course.”
Empire Builder departures are now cancelled in both directions through Wednesday, Jan. 17, over the train’s entire route, leaving 37 communities it exclusively serves without a train in at least one direction since Wednesday, Jan. 10.
None of the westbound long-distance trains — the Builder, Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle, or California Zephyr — departed Chicago today. The City of New Orleans is only operating as far as Carbondale, Ill., but there is no advisory that mentions it isn’t running to or from New Orleans. The northbound City was terminated at the unscheduled stop of Gilman, Ill., yesterday, according to an Amtrak Alerts notice, though it was shown as more than 9 hours late into Kankakee, Ill., further north.
Elsewhere in the Midwest, the Chicago-Grand Rapids, Mich., Pere Marquette; Chicago- Port Huron, Mich., Blue Water; Chicago-Quincy Illinois Zephyr; and two Chicago-St. Louis round-trips leaving Monday and returning Tuesday are all cancelled.
Chicago remains under a National Weather Service wind-chill warning through noon on Tuesday, with forecast wind chills as low as 35 below zero, while a wind-chill advisory continues through 9 a.m. Wednesday with potential wind chills as low as 25 below zero. Temperatures are projected to reach the 20s on Wednesday and Thursday before dropping again.
In the west, the Coast Starlight continues to be annulled north of Oakland, Calif.; it hasn’t run on that segment since Jan. 10. Meanwhile, eight Cascades departures between Eugene, Ore. and Vancouver, B.C., have been cancelled through Tuesday. One of the six Horizon-equipped trainsets is out of service.
Amtrak used American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds beginning in 2009 in part to winterize its Chicago servicing facilities, but many activities continue to take place outdoors. Cancellations of this magnitude last occurred in the winters of 1978-79 and 1979-80 when the company was still dealing with steam-heated heritage equipment. In that era, Amtrak sent frozen rolling stock down to New Orleans to thaw out.
The latest list of cancellations is available here.
