WASHINGTON — With the first significant snow of the season sweeping into the East Coast on Thursday, Amtrak cancelled 12 Acela Northeast Corridor departures, although no Northeast Regional trains were dropped. Three of the cancelled round-trips were scheduled Boston-Washington, and three were New York-Washington, plus an additional departure of the Washington-New York portion of Acela No. 2150 to Boston.
An employee advisory obtained by Trains attributed the cancellations “Due to six HSR trainsets currently shopped (40% of the active fleet).” Amtrak has 20 Acela trainsets, but four had already been removed from service.
The advisory posted late Thursday afternoon made no mention of any Friday Acela cancellations. It did note that half of the Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawathas would be cancelled, along with two Wolverine round-trips and two Chicago-St. Louis Lincoln Service round-trips. One departure in each direction remains cancelled Friday on the Chicago-Quincy, Ill.; Chicago-Carbondale, Ill.; and St. Louis-Kansas City, Mo., corridors.
Full service was restored to western New York State including the Lake Shore Limited beginning with Thursday departures, as were the Blue Water and Pere Marquette in Michigan.
The latest email from Amtrak to a “passenger train supporter” explained that the company is “doubling-up locomotives [so] trains can make it safely over the road; dispatching trains with two locomotives rather than one … limits the number of engines we have to dispatch all trains.”
Here is the latest statement from Amtrak: Amtrak Advisory | Modifications Due to Winter Storms and Extreme Cold Across the Country
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