Amtrak NEC Delay and Service Disruption Thread

[STrRedWolf]

Broken rail, apparently on the Hell Gate: https://gothamist.com/news/amtrak-suspe ... oken-track

Yeah, I was up on the train tracker helping one of the conductors find a train from Philly back to DC. It broke right before his planned Acela dead-head and he had to switch to the next southbound Regional. Said Acela and train 93 had to be walked over the break by my guess, then everyone else offloaded between Penn and New Haven to take the Metro North "bridge" back and forth.

[NortheastTrainMan]

There was a delay / temporary service suspension between Philadelphia & New York due to a tresspasser strike east of Trenton, near Princeton Junction, resulting in single tracking.

Twitter / X News
Amtrak NEC Alerts -> https://x.com/AmtrakNECAlerts/status/18 ... 3681011982
NJ Transit -> https://x.com/NJTRANSIT/status/1823357815798243658

I surmise such a huge area was affected due to:
- Most Amtrak trains lacking the ability to change ends. Not sure how practical this would've been given the incident though.
- Train traffic by design
- Lack of interlockings, MIDWAY to the East & HAM to the West.
- Biggest of all, law enforcement

Years ago i was on an Amtrak behind a train that struck someone west of Trenton in PA, I don't recall the exact layout, but I think only 2 tracks were used and many trains were canceled.

As a railfan, I'm interested in how operations worked. As a human, the loss of life is sad.
Not to be somber, but always be safe around trains & remember life is worth living.
Life comes first.

[PRRTechFan]

...they never should have removed NASSAU interlocking.

[NortheastTrainMan]

...they never should have removed NASSAU interlocking.

Ditto. I wonder if the projected increased service near Princeton Jct will make Amtrak consider reinstating NASSAU interlocking.

[CSRR573]

Word on the street is that the trespasser was struck first by a reginal, then immediately by an Acela.

[lensovet]

I surmise such a huge area was affected due to:
- Most Amtrak trains lacking the ability to change ends. Not sure how practical this would've been given the incident though.

Regionals have been running double-ended for over a month now. Keystones have been doing it for years. Acelas, obviously, have always had cabs on both ends.

The only trains running single ended are long distance ones and those make up a tiny fraction of the overall traffic in this area.

[NortheastTrainMan]

@CSRR573 Oh dear, that's terrible! My heart goes out to EVERYONE involved in that. I imagine those engineers didn't wake up expecting to play a part in that. It's not something you can prepare for. That's sad man.

@Lensovet A select amount of Regionals, most still operate with a Sprinter on only one end. I'm well aware of Keystone & Acelas, but most Amtrak trains in that area can't change ends. Single tracking from HAM to MIDWAY with a trespasser fatality involving TWO trains certainly isn't worth it for most trains. It would be delayed as is, then you add in the incident, medics, law enforcement, you might as well just cancel the trains at that point.

If any were turned, I imagine they just went to Trenton, or possibly Hamilton (assuming there was space) and awaited orders, "became" "new" trains, or just deadheaded elsewhere in the system. East of the area, same thing, just for points east (New Brunswick, Metropark, you get it).

[Gilbert B Norman]

...they never should have removed NASSAU interlocking.

An aside, anyone wonder the origin of Nassau Tower's (or Control Point nowadays) name?

[JuniusLivonius]

...they never should have removed NASSAU interlocking.

Ditto. I wonder if the projected increased service near Princeton Jct will make Amtrak consider reinstating NASSAU interlocking.

Yep. 14.4 miles without a complete interlocking (MP 41.3 - 55.7) or any interlocking at all

There was a delay / temporary service suspension between Philadelphia & New York due to a tresspasser strike east of Trenton, near Princeton Junction, resulting in single tracking.

Twitter / X News
Amtrak NEC Alerts -> https://x.com/AmtrakNECAlerts/status/18 ... 3681011982
NJ Transit -> https://x.com/NJTRANSIT/status/1823357815798243658

I surmise such a huge area was affected due to:
- Most Amtrak trains lacking the ability to change ends. Not sure how practical this would've been given the incident though.
- Train traffic by design
- Lack of interlockings, MIDWAY to the East & HAM to the West.
- Biggest of all, law enforcement

Years ago i was on an Amtrak behind a train that struck someone west of Trenton in PA, I don't recall the exact layout, but I think only 2 tracks were used and many trains were canceled.

As a railfan, I'm interested in how operations worked. As a human, the loss of life is sad.
Not to be somber, but always be safe around trains & remember life is worth living.
Life comes first.

Word on the street is that the trespasser was struck first by a reginal, then immediately by an Acela.

"immediately" - that's the weird thing: from what I could tell an entire 13 minutes elapsed between #3825 reporting the first strike and #2151 reporting another strike. Some news media confused arrival/departure times as incident times and it's not like NJ Transit or Amtrak specifically timestamped their press releases/responses. 13 ENTIRE MINUTES!

Note at this distance I can only hear the dispatcher and the few trains stacking up near County and eastward.
9:29:46AM - CETC-8 trying to contact #642 (couldn't quite hear train number - this is my best guess)
9:30:00AM - CETC-8 is answering #3825
9:30:12AM - CETC-8 reacts to the likely report of trespasser strike. Dispatcher thereafter commands other trains to safely stop over the next few minutes.
9:34:11AM - Dispatcher to #2151: 2 track from Midway to Ham
9:39:32AM - #3915 2 track to Ham
9:41:58AM - #3827 3 track to Midway then 2 track to Ham
9:43:02AM - CETC-8 asks #3825 for visual of struck trespasser. Dispatcher then struggles to hear someone, possibly #2151...
9:43:53AM - #2151 confirmed struck passenger (dispatcher's or engineer's choice of word) and train stopped at MP 50

Something weird happened here. Assuming nothing happened in a phone call, at no point was #2151 told about what was going on. No speed restriction was given which is normally over the radio because you sometimes want multiple trains to write it down at the same time.

TSRB - Temporary Speed Restriction Bulletin - a document compiled every day that engineers and conductors receive and has space for additions received in route

Just back on August 9th there was a trespasser incident turned trespasser strike incident. A man was walking westward just west of Jersey Ave on track 4 and eventually disappeared out of view. When a trespasser is spotted, trains tell the dispatcher the location and the dispatcher informs other trains to be cautious and make noise, which happened in this case. I don't think they do anything too extreme unless they think the person is suicidal. In that case, they got trains moving again after the trespasser had "disappeared". #3875 reported suddenly seeing the trespasser (not sure if jumped in front) and striking him. The dispatcher immediately tries to get trains to safely stop so nobody fouls the incident area. Maybe 10-20 minutes later trains got through (trespasser survived) at restricted speed with a TSRB addition.

I can't imagine why none of the above described precautions were taken here. That would mean that Acela ran through there at up to 135mph 13 minutes after the first part happened. Either someone didn't follow policy or there needs to be a new policy for consistency and safety.

Finally, just to complete the story...
The restricted speed TSRB addition (mileposts 49 - 51) was only effectuated at 11:44AM. The first train through (at least as I heard from the east end up here) went through at about 12PM.

They were single tracking on track 1 for about an hour. Track 4 opened up around 12:52PM when #3852 got moving west.

#2151 didn't get moving until between 1:21PM and 1:30PM and went east to Sunnyside.

I present this with no further comment:

I just had to relay to sunnyside and the acela was sittin there on the loop. Def finished the job. :/

@CSRR573 Oh dear, that's terrible! My heart goes out to EVERYONE involved in that. I imagine those engineers didn't wake up expecting to play a part in that. It's not something you can prepare for. That's sad man.

@Lensovet A select amount of Regionals, most still operate with a Sprinter on only one end. I'm well aware of Keystone & Acelas, but most Amtrak trains in that area can't change ends. Single tracking from HAM to MIDWAY with a trespasser fatality involving TWO trains certainly isn't worth it for most trains. It would be delayed as is, then you add in the incident, medics, law enforcement, you might as well just cancel the trains at that point.

If any were turned, I imagine they just went to Trenton, or possibly Hamilton (assuming there was space) and awaited orders, "became" "new" trains, or just deadheaded elsewhere in the system. East of the area, same thing, just for points east (New Brunswick, Metropark, you get it).

Double-ended regionals started specifically on March 4th. Of course somebody was there at sunrise to film them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMJXwfnk0Mw

I heard they parked some westbound Amtrak trains on track 1 at Jersey Ave. They wouldn't route any trains down track 1 Delco - Midway and made them back up east first. Maybe there was a switch they couldn't use. Just another issue that didn't help.

[CNJGeep]

Hit by 3825
Guy got up as the conductor was talking to him and sprinted in front of 2151

Not pretty.

[NortheastTrainMan]

@JuniusLivonius Although I wish the circumstances were much different, I commend you for the detail (regarding the train operations in particular). Many thanks for sharing that.

I wonder how stuff like that works. Like in the event of an emergency, how quick could dispatchers get trains to physically stop, and how? Radio is one thing, but can they arbitrarily make all surrounding (and cab) signals restricting and / or stop, once they're sure there's an emergency? I'm sure a 125-150MPH Acela can't stop on a dime, but I would hope it could at least reach restricting in 13 mins from top speed.

One thing to note, I'm aware of Fan Railer's video. Heck, that's what made ME aware of the Bookended "Push Pull" Regionals. I even caught Regional 103 on film myself at Trenton -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmLvFzEcqnE

However, as noted in Fan Railer's video description, it's only for a select few trains thus far:
"Amtrak has implemented a new schedule effective 3/4/24 which sees the addition of 4 consists arranged in a push-pull configuration.
Weekday Rotations:
1) 111-182-133-196
2) 181-114-129-198
3) 130-119
4) 112-131

Sunday rotations:
1) 120-105
2) 103-106-107
3) 121-122 (pre-existing cycle) - uses a Metroliner Cab Car
4) 118-189-128
5)* 108 (option to wye or add motor to 161 upon its arrival in DC)"

I don't know every Regional off the top of my head, but IIRC at least 96, 195, 143, 153 & 162 operate with an ACS-64 on one end only. I believe 96 originates south of DC, but it's still a Regional.

[lensovet]

Hit by 3825
Guy got up as the conductor was talking to him and sprinted in front of 2151

Not pretty.

If that's the case and there were indeed 13 minutes between the initial strike and the second – Amtrak has a serious dispatching problem.

This is not the first time we've had issues on this front in recent years either.

[STrRedWolf]

The question here is, couldn't CTEC-8 reconfigure red signals in that stretch of track, and force an emergency stop via PTC?

[nomis]

StrWof, Without Interlockings or CP's no, there is only those certain locations to manually drop signals. Everything else is on the signal system acting automatically.

Dispatcher could theoretically be able to use ACSES to implement a manual TSR (Temporary Speed Restriction) in the area of the incident.

[JuniusLivonius]

Update: I skipped over a data point or missed the significance of the radio transmission
9:31:32AM - CETC-8 asks #3825 for milepost at which trespasser was struck

So that proves to me it was already known as a trespasser strike for 12 minutes and that clears any ambiguity that the dispatcher/engineer may have thought it was an animal or other object until later.

Hit by 3825
Guy got up as the conductor was talking to him and sprinted in front of 2151

Not pretty.

Thanks for the additional info. Where are all these descriptions coming from anyway? I imagine passengers saw some part of this. I have no confirmation about #2151's speed because it appears Amtrak's position and speed reporting (through asm.transitdocs.com) was spotty that morning.

With those data points and the one I missed, it was known it was a trespasser strike incident for no less than 12 minutes. While I couldn't hear what any trains were saying, the inflection in the dispatcher's voice at 9:30:12AM when answering #3825 and the immediate requests to stop trains indicates to me that that was the moment. I once again emphasize #2151 was not told of the situation as far as I can tell.

@JuniusLivonius Although I wish the circumstances were much different, I commend you for the detail (regarding the train operations in particular). Many thanks for sharing that.

I wonder how stuff like that works. Like in the event of an emergency, how quick could dispatchers get trains to physically stop, and how? Radio is one thing, but can they arbitrarily make all surrounding (and cab) signals restricting and / or stop, once they're sure there's an emergency? I'm sure a 125-150MPH Acela can't stop on a dime, but I would hope it could at least reach restricting in 13 mins from top speed.

I am just shocked that #2151 was put in a situation to allow this to happen, at least as I understand it. I hope this leads to grave changes in the policies.

The first line of defense is the train that first has the problem, hits something or has any sort of emergency brake application. The engineer uses the radio as such: “Emergency, Emergency, Emergency. Train TV-24 engine 6605 is in emergency moving east on No. 2 track at MP 78.”

Amtrak on the NEC adopts NORAC rules and that specific rule is 136-a. Trains that hear this radio transmission are to move at restricted speed in the affected area until the dispatcher says otherwise. These emergency brake rules appear to only deal with traffic on a singular adjacent track. I didn't look too hard about relevant Amtrak NEC-only rules but I didn't see any. As you see above, #2151 was shifted over to track 2 leaving track 3 vacant. I don't see any rules violated but I can't understand why no speed restriction was put in place until the trespasser was found and removed/restrained.

Now to what the dispatcher can do...

The dispatcher should be able to drop signals to Stop (interlockings and controlled points) but can't change automatic signals. I believe the same applies to cab signals in the same automatic signal territory. 562 territory (cab signals only) has no wayside signals and only the interlockings and controlled points have signals. Some quick examples of 562 territory:
County - Delco/Adams - Midway - CP Clark - Ham
Rea - Hudson - Portal - Bergen - CP Mid - A

I believe in 562 territory the cab signals will be Restricting if the next signal is Stop. In automatic territory the dispatcher might be able reverse traffic direction (typical PRR/Amtrak has middle tracks bidirectional) and change against-flow signals to Stop, though I don't know if that is used or practical in an emergency or what effect it has on cab signals.

The ultimate speed restriction enforcement system is ACSES, the positive train control system deployed on almost all of Amtrak's NEC. It might take them a few minutes to write up a speed restriction and it might need approval or review by the Road Foreman or someone else. Once it's uploaded to the backend, trains that are in or near the scope of the TSR should receive the revised TSR list in no more than 6 seconds as I believe that's how often the ACSES unit on each train requests the TSR list. You can read about it in the FRA docket for Amtrak's Positive Train Control Implementation Plan but there is a huge amount of information to read.

The question here is, couldn't CTEC-8 reconfigure red signals in that stretch of track, and force an emergency stop via PTC?

Please check my radio sequence of events. #2151 was intentionally sent west (probably starting from a stop 8 miles away at Midway) apparently at track speed through the incident area. 12-13 minutes elapsed. This wasn't a matter of too little time except of course when #2151 actually got there, which I argue it should never have been allowed to do at more than Restricted speed.