Amtrak NEC Delay and Service Disruption Thread

[CSRR573]

Two different styles. Fixed Tension vs Constant Tension. Different voltages too

[JuniusLivonius]

What caused the 2 - 3 hour delays Monday between Newark and PHL?

3 trains (nearly) simultaneously broke their pantographs at Metuchen or east of there.

April 15th, 2024

3 or 4 trains were headed through the area around 5:15PM.
4 west- #3723 (NJ Transit Arrow III)
3 west - #3947 (ALP46)
2 east - #2170 (Acela)
1 east - #3862 (ALP46; stopped before catenary damage area and was not damaged)

5:16PM #3947 reports loss or dip of catenary power
5:17PM #3723 reports ongoing recovery from a penalty (unaware of pantograph damage? Why did they have a penalty?)
5:18PM #3862 on track 1 at Edison reports having lost power when they hard #3947 complain
5:18PM #3947 reports decisive pantograph lowering, passes #3723 and notices pantograph damage.
5:19PM Conductor #3947 reports pantograph damage
5:19PM #2170 reports broken pantographs (reported by dashboard in cab) on both powercars "while passing that train that was on 1 [sic]" (meant track 4?)
5:23PM #3723 still doesn't realize it has 4 broken pantographs. Dispatcher asks for catenary inspection.
5:24PM #3723 crew finds some cars without power
5:41PM #3862 allowed to run to Metropark under AMT 2.602 (test pantograph lower/raise and proceed under caution, report damage?)
5:45PM #3947 points out how much of a mess the pantographs on #3723 were. #3947 permitted to continue west with change to front pantograph.
5:46PM #3947 ordered to stop, requested by ET (EC?)
5:48PM #3723 requests a rescue.
5:53PM #3862 reports track 3 and track 4 catenary damage (catenary on the ground) at Grove Ave
5:57PM #3862 reports pantograph damage on the stalled #2170
6:06PM #3723 reports passengers jumping off of train (seemingly the only part the news covered)

A few other important things happened later that evening and night. 3 and 4 remained out due to catenary damage. 2 probably had some damage but was still blocked by #2170. #3947 was able to leave using its other pantograph but only after being inspected by ET. At some point a train on track 1 reported catenary motion or something bad and dropped its pantographs to continue coasting. For a while after that, trains had to drop their pantographs and only track 1 was open.
#3169 train at 10:55PM forgot the drop pantograph order and shook the catenary a bit next to some catenary repair workers.

#2170 had its passengers rescued by another train. #3723 eventually got permission to pull into Metuchen even with its damaged pantographs. I don't think #2170 and #3723 were actually towed/moved until after midnight.

[bellstbarn]

What happened that caused grief for Amtrak and NJ Transit during the afternoon today Wednesday May 22.2024? The radio reports sounded as if wires on the Meadows were down. Passengers were told to ride PATH.

[STrRedWolf]

What happened that caused grief for Amtrak and NJ Transit during the afternoon today Wednesday May 22.2024? The radio reports sounded as if wires on the Meadows were down. Passengers were told to ride PATH.

It hit national news. Wires were down between New York Penn and Newark. They had to stop trains from Philly to NYP. If NJ Transit trains could go into Hoboken, they did (thus, take PATH). Eventually they got a track open and were single-tracking everything. Things are still a mess so expect delays today.

[rcthompson04]

What happened that caused grief for Amtrak and NJ Transit during the afternoon today Wednesday May 22.2024? The radio reports sounded as if wires on the Meadows were down. Passengers were told to ride PATH.

It hit national news. Wires were down between New York Penn and Newark. They had to stop trains from Philly to NYP. If NJ Transit trains could go into Hoboken, they did (thus, take PATH). Eventually they got a track open and were single-tracking everything. Things are still a mess so expect delays today.

Correct. There were reports of equipment being out of position causing issues today.

[bellstbarn]

WABC said "Kearny," so we know it's not Harrison or Secaucus. Public relations could have given a milepost number but that may require an explanation of milepost numbers and where zero is.

[CNJGeep]

-Wires down at Swift and Hunter, no catenary power east of Midway

-Signal power loss A-Midway

[JuniusLivonius]

WABC said "Kearny," so we know it's not Harrison or Secaucus. Public relations could have given a milepost number but that may require an explanation of milepost numbers and where zero is.

I'm just a guy sitting here listening to NEC road radio. On April 15th I don't believe they said much beyond "Amtrak overhead wire issues near Metuchen" when within 5 minutes I already knew the severity of the issue: 3 trains broke their pantographs (either all or some). One left maybe an hour later with its other pantograph, but the other two on tracks 2 and 4 weren't even towed away until after midnight. The catenary on track 1 was the only one left and was begging for its life, so every train ran through track 1.

I wish they would at least communicate the severity so people could understand what's happening and why. They could literally just hire one person to sit in PSCC and take notes. Yet, I've seen that NJ transit can't even properly communicate low leveling and often announces the wrong thing.

-Wires down at Swift and Hunter, no catenary power east of Midway

-Signal power loss A-Midway

I think you missed one thing, according to what I read:
Friend of mine works in Amtrak maintaince, hes at the tunnel, he says the 1 is cleared but need inspection first before open up while other one where that wire is on the tracks and confirmed its about 3 car long, thats how the wire is on the ground -OneDisastrous998 (Reddit 7:58PM, May 22)

It's incredibly sad we have to have to rely on some MOW worker's friend posting on Reddit to get the full story. So signal power issues everywhere (not exactly unexpected if 12kV traction power falls on 6.2kV signal power like last July), catenary failures at Hunter, Swift and inside 1 or both of the Hudson tunnels. (maybe?)

Though I wonder what caused a "signal power" loss over such an extent (A-Midway) as I imagine there's signal power isolation at Bergen / Sub 42, maybe even through Waverly for historical reasons. PRR signal power is 91 2/3 Hz in territory with DC (third rail) and 100Hz elsewhere. Not sure how true that is anymore.

[west point]

What happened in WASH Thursday?. 19, 81, & 97 all took 1 hour + hit/
05/23/24 6:45pm EDT
_ Mechanical Issues: As of 6:42 pm ET due to overhead power
_ issues Train 91 is currently stopped in Washington (WAS).
_ Updates to come as more information becomes available.
_
_ 05/23/24 6:57pm EDT
_ Service Resumption: As of 6:54 pm ET Train 91 has departed
_ Washington (WAS) and is currently operating approximately
_ 3 hours and 45 minutes late.

[STrRedWolf]

What happened in WASH Thursday?. 19, 81, & 97 all took 1 hour + hit/
05/23/24 6:45pm EDT
_ Mechanical Issues: As of 6:42 pm ET due to overhead power
_ issues Train 91 is currently stopped in Washington (WAS).
_ Updates to come as more information becomes available.
_
_ 05/23/24 6:57pm EDT
_ Service Resumption: As of 6:54 pm ET Train 91 has departed
_ Washington (WAS) and is currently operating approximately
_ 3 hours and 45 minutes late.

Probably a power issue around Halethorpe through West Baltimore. Track A may of been off-line then. Plus there was a lot of out-of-place equipment going through.

[STrRedWolf]

The ol' grey lady posted up an article on the details.

At 5:05 p.m. on Wednesday, just as the evening rush hour picked up steam, an overhead wire that transmits traffic signals fell and struck a cable that provides electrical power to trains on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor in Kearny, N.J., a few miles west of New York City.

That contact caused a “blowout” that halted service on Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains in both directions between Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan and Newark. With no trains moving into or out of New York across the Hudson River, the disruption rippled down the line to Philadelphia and beyond, leaving passengers stranded along the tracks and stations full of disgruntled travelers.

With delays stretching to over four hours, many commuters gave up on the railroads and paid hefty fares to Uber and other ride-hail services to get home. Service was not restored until after 10 p.m., and the residual effects carried over into Thursday morning’s commute.

Amtrak officials still had no explanation on Thursday for what had caused the wire to break. But the meltdown appeared to be unrelated to a problem on Tuesday morning with wires in a tunnel under the Hudson that led to delays of up to 60 minutes. Separately on Thursday, New Jersey Transit warned of delays as long as an hour because of signal problems at Amtrak’s Dock Bridge in Newark.

[west point]

No, this problem that I noted was the trains arrived WASH then took the big delay hit, Had to happen at WASH Union Station.

[STrRedWolf]

No, this problem that I noted was the trains arrived WASH then took the big delay hit, Had to happen at WASH Union Station.

Let me be clear: the NY Times article no way is related to the issue down in WAS.

[Jeff Smith]

CSX?: CBSNEWS.com

I assume in VA?

Amtrak changes schedule in the Northeast Corridor due to heat

Amtrak passengers traveling in the Northeast Corridor — the busy rail line linking Boston, New York and other cities in the region with Washington, D.C., — could face delays because of high heat this summer.

Departure times of trains in the corridor have been adjusted to compensate for anticipated heat order delays, Amtrak Northeast said Tuesday in a post on X.
...
Passengers traveling in the Northeast Corridor should expect delays from 5 to 20 minutes when track owner and maintainer CSX issues a heat order reducing the maximum speed of trains. The orders frequently occur between May and August, Amtrak said.
...

[Gilbert B Norman]

This notice is misleading in that it implies that CSX maintains the entire Corridor, as if Amtrak has contracted out such.

CSX of course, when they impose summer speed restrictions on their lines, will impact timekeeping on the Corridor. Many more Corridor trains interchange with CSX than they do with NS.

So it's probably best Amtrak recognizes that their principal interchange at WAS will impose these restrictions and adjust schedules accordingly.

All told; a smart move announced by a poorly worded notice.