Winter Storm "Juno" Cancelations

[hi55us]

Here come the Northeast Corridor cancellations (not a surprise given the horrible weather starting to unfold in Manhattan):

Due to the winter storm forecast to impact the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak will operate a modified schedule for the remainder of Monday, Jan. 26.


Acela Express and Northeast Regional service will operate between Boston and Washington; however, passengers should expect reduced frequencies, mainly north of New York.


Corridor services, including Keystone Service (New York – Harrisburg, Pa.), Empire Service (New York – Albany, N.Y.), Amtrak Downeaster (Brunswick, Maine – Boston) and the Springfield Shuttle (New Haven, Conn. – Springfield, Mass.), will operate as scheduled.


Passengers holding reservations that require modification are being accommodated on other trains and proactively notified by Amtrak Customer Service. A range of tools, including Amtrak.com, smartphone apps and 1-800-USA-RAIL, are available to assist in travel planning.


Amtrak is actively monitoring this severe winter storm and will provide an update on Tuesday’s service later today.

Gotta love how the state of Maine is sticking to their guns and keeping the Downeaster running... Can't imagine anyone will be able to make it to the station with 2 feet of snow foretasted for most of the east coast...

[gokeefe]

Gotta love how the state of Maine is sticking to their guns and keeping the Downeaster running... Can't imagine anyone will be able to make it to the station with 2 feet of snow foretasted for most of the east coast...

No snow up here as yet. So operations for January 26th (today) are not affected.

Tomorrow however is a different story per amtrakdowneaster.com (official website of the Amtrak Downeaster)

PRIORITY ALERT: Severe Winter Weather - all trains cancelled Tuesday January 27
A blizzard is forecast for most of the Downeaster service area from 10pm Monday, January 26 to 4am Wednesday January 28 - with safety of our passengers and crews the utmost importance, we have cancelled all trains for Tuesday. We anticipate to resume normal service Wednesday January 28. We will continue to update the status of the railroad here on our website.

I remarked in the Downeaster thread how this cancellation was unfortunate given that we rely on the train to be one of the more durable modes of transportation available. Hopefully in the future capital funds will be made available for further winterization improvements. The big story here is likely not so much the snowfall but the wind which will bring down trees and likely affect operations between Boston and Portland.

If it weren't for the wind I think the Downeaster and perhaps the rest of the NEC would likely be operating in a nearly normal state.

[wintower]

NBC reorted on their Nightly News program that Amtrak service between New York and Boston would not operate tomorrow, Tuesday, January 27.

[Palmer5RR]

The following are Service Alerts from Amtrak.com. Amtrak is canceling everything in New England.

Amtrak Suspends Service in the New England Region on Tuesday, Jan. 27
Reduced schedule offered south of New York

Jan. 26, 2015
6 p.m. ET
Due to the severe winter storm that is impacting the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak has suspended Northeast Regional and Acela Express service between New York and Boston on Tuesday, Jan. 27.

In addition, Empire Service (New York – Albany-Rensselaer, N.Y.), Amtrak Downeaster (Brunswick, Maine – Boston), Vermonter (Washington – St. Albans, Vt.) and the Springfield line (New Haven, Conn. – Springfield, Mass.), are all suspended, as well as Lake Shore Limited service between New York and Albany-Rensselaer, N.Y., and Boston and Albany-Rensselaer, N.Y., only.

Acela Express and Northeast Regional trains between New York and Washington, and Keystone Service (New York – Harrisburg, Pa.) will operate at reduced frequencies.

Passengers holding reservations that require modification are being accommodated on other trains and proactively notified by Amtrak Customer Service. A range of tools, including Amtrak.com, smartphone apps and 1-800-USA-RAIL, are available to assist in travel planning.

Amtrak regrets any inconvenience. This information is correct as of the above time and date. Information is subject to change as conditions warrant.

Passengers with travel plans can confirm their train's status, change their plans or review refund information using a range of tools – including Amtrak.com, smartphone apps or by calling 800-USA-RAIL. Service Alerts, Passenger Notices and other announcements are posted at Amtrak.com/alerts.

To be notified of service disruptions on the Northeast Corridor (including Acela Express, Northeast Regional and other corridor services), follow @AmtrakNEC on Twitter.

[Jehochman]

The state and many towns have closed the roads in CT since 9pm last night because they don't want stranded motorists blocking the plows or freezing to death. If trains could run, nobody could get to or from the stations. What can Amtrak do but suspend service? They can't drop people at a station with no way to leave.

[Palmer5RR]

The Service Alert plan for today includes suspended service north of New York and trains operating south of New York on a reduced schedule with impacts to Virginia service.

Amtrak Northeast Winter Storm Service Update
UPDATE: Amtrak Northeast Winter Storm Operating Plan for Tuesday, Jan. 27 Service suspended north of New York, trains operating reduced schedule south of New York

Jan. 27, 2015
6:15 a.m. ET

Due to the severe winter storm in the Northeast region, the Amtrak operating plan for Tuesday, Jan. 27 includes suspended service north of New York and trains operating south of New York on a reduced schedule with impacts to Virginia service.

Today, Northeast Regional and Acela Express services are operating on a reduced schedule between New York and Washington as is the Keystone Service (New York – Harrisburg, Pa.). Most Virginia trains are in service, but will not operate north of New York. Passengers are encouraged to confirm train status before traveling to the station.

Northeast Regional and Acela Express service remains suspended between New York and Boston. Also suspended today is Empire Service (New York – Albany-Rensselaer, N.Y.), Amtrak Downeaster (Brunswick, Maine – Boston), Vermonter (Washington – St. Albans, Vt.) and the Springfield line (New Haven, Conn. – Springfield, Mass.). The Lake Shore Limited (Chicago -- New York/Boston) will not operate between New York and Albany-Rensselaer, N.Y., and Boston and Albany-Rensselaer, N.Y.

In addition, Virginia service Train 84 (Richmond, Va. -- New York) and Train 93 (Boston -- Richmond, Va.) are suspended today. Train 174 (Norfolk, Va.-- Boston) and Train 125 (Boston -- Norfolk, Va.) will operate only to/from Philadelphia and Train 95 (Boston -- Newport News, Va.) will originate in Washington. All other Virginia service will originate or terminate in New York.

More on Amtrak.com

[Jersey_Mike]

The state and many towns have closed the roads in CT since 9pm last night because they don't want stranded motorists blocking the plows or freezing to death. If trains could run, nobody could get to or from the stations. What can Amtrak do but suspend service? They can't drop people at a station with no way to leave.

Why did this whole "shutting the roads down" thing become a thing? If winter storms were terrorists this is the definition of letting them win.

[Greg Moore]

The state and many towns have closed the roads in CT since 9pm last night because they don't want stranded motorists blocking the plows or freezing to death. If trains could run, nobody could get to or from the stations. What can Amtrak do but suspend service? They can't drop people at a station with no way to leave.

Why did this whole "shutting the roads down" thing become a thing? If winter storms were terrorists this is the definition of letting them win.

At least 20 years ago, probably more.

[TomNelligan]

At least 20 years ago, probably more.

Maybe where you are, but here in Massachusetts I don't recall any statewide travel bans between the Blizzard of 1978 that shut down the eastern part of the state and a 30-incher in 2013, and none from then until today. I perceive these winter weather complete shutdowns as a development of the last few years.

There is no question that for various reasons that have been discussed here, neither railroads not state highway departments are willing to deal with challenging weather situations that they would have handled years ago. I'll spare you my old-guy stories about how the New Haven and B&M ran through storms fifty years ago because I know that's ancient history. It's a different, nanny-state world now in which adults are no longer assumed to be smart enough to take responsibility for their own actions and passenger railroads are no longer all-weather transportation.

[shlustig]

Hmmmmm, some of us "dinosaurs" remember working through the very harsh winters of the mid-1970's with absolutely no thoughts of suspending service or shutting down. Trains may have run late, and the equipment took a beating (especially the Amtrak turbotrains), but we operated.

The only time I can recall a total suspension of service was the occurrence of the 2nd NY blackout which occurred at the tailend of an evening rush hour.
We were ready to go with diesel service the following day and were told NFG by the MTA as we would be making everybody else look bad if we were to actually operate.

[v8interceptor]

Not to defend the MBTA or Amtrak in this case but do not both of these organizations operate at much lower staffing levels than the B&M and NY.NH & H did? I would be interested in how you guys think they can make up for the lack of manpower in a crisis situation that only happens once or twice a year without adding personnel and having to find the money to pay them?

[gokeefe]

This is the same discussion we have every time there is a big storm that causes service shutdowns that would have been essentially "unthinkable" in the past.

As others will note staffing of Maintenance of Way Departments in the past was significantly higher on a per mile basis than it is today. That combined with the use of temporary track workers "off the street" for events such as these made it possible to operate in all conditions short of total destruction.

In regards to the travel bans I too agree with Mr. Nelligan that these are relatively recent and frankly would be completely unacceptable north of the Commonwealth.

[TomNelligan]

I would be interested in how you guys think they can make up for the lack of manpower in a crisis situation that only happens once or twice a year without adding personnel and having to find the money to pay them?

As I wrote earlier, I know that it's a different world now. Whether it's a better one is a matter of personal opinion.

[Greg Moore]

This is the same discussion we have every time there is a big storm that causes service shutdowns that would have been essentially "unthinkable" in the past.

As others will note staffing of Maintenance of Way Departments in the past was significantly higher on a per mile basis than it is today. That combined with the use of temporary track workers "off the street" for events such as these made it possible to operate in all conditions short of total destruction.

In regards to the travel bans I too agree with Mr. Nelligan that these are relatively recent and frankly would be completely unacceptable north of the Commonwealth.

The one I distinctly recall was I think 1995 (might have been 94) in March or so, Albany county definitely was shut down (as I remembered 30 seconds after driving over the Hudson into it.

As for nanny state, I think the problem is also the opposite. People expect instant rescue. I know from talking to folks that in the backcountry more and more folks seem to think help is just a 911 call and a 15 minute helicopter ride away. (The rangers always love "Help I'm lost, can you come get me" type calls. The people seem genuinely surprised when the rangers basically say, "Umm, if you don't know where you are, how do you expect us to know?"

So in the past where folks might have braved the weather and suffered the consequences, now they want to brave the conditions and blame someone else when things don't go their way.

Back on topic, I do think at least for the Empire Service perhaps a more moderated approach of, "we'll probably cancel stuff, but if things aren't too bad we'll try to run a few trains, but definitely do NOT expect full service, no matter what."

[CVRA7]

Spot-on, TomNelligan.