Capitol Limited & Lake Shore Limited Delays Summer/Fall 2014

[neroden]

Well, the "biggest chokepoint on [NS's] entire national network" is about to be fixed with Englewood Flyover opening. When NS also finishes their other trackwork in Indiana, they will have zero excuses for the network meltdown.

NS should be paying financial damages, especially if this is due to installing incompetent dispatching software. (By the way, everything I've heard about NS's new dispatching software screams "you idiots, you should never have even considered buying this" to me, as a programmer. But the NS execs probably don't know jack about programming or computers.)

 

[montana mike]

Thanks for the update. When is the Englewood Flyover scheduled to open?

 

[AmtrakBlue]

49(30) is off the Track-a-Train map. It was stopped west of SOB when I went to lunch.

 

[montana mike]

Still stopped apparently. Meanwhile Amtrak shows #29 arriving between 4 and 5 hours late in CHI. Looks like #49 will be even later (likely missing most of not all western connections--again), since it is now quite a bit behind #29. Rats.....

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Still stopped apparently. Meanwhile Amtrak shows #29 arriving between 4 and 5 hours late in CHI. Looks like #49 will be even later (likely missing most of not all western connections--again), since it is now quite a bit behind #29. Rats.....

Or maybe hooked 49 up to 29 like they did with 3 & 5 a while ago. Maybe the conductors & engineers were getting bored at that long stop. :giggle:

 

[afigg]

Amazing. From CHI to TOL it took poor #48 over 8 hours--Ouch! I see both #29 and #49 are again stopped east of SOB waiting, and waiting. Hopefully they will only lose perhaps another hour or so and arrive only 3+ hours late today.

It will be interesting to see if things improve after NS completes the track work at the end of October a planned.

#48(9/30) sat for over 2.5 hours in TOL to get to >8 hours late; arrived at 9:14 AM, departed 11:42 AM. Possibly a crew hours and shortage problem as TOL is a crew change stop. The westbound CL is sitting there in Indiana, so there may be another 5 to 6+ hour late arrival at CHI.
Should have looked for a NS Service update page before. This one was posted on September 12. Writes about the temporary crew transfers, new hires, and the December completion of the $160 million capacity expansion at the Bellevue, Ohio, classification yard. Among the five maintenance bullets:

1. Expect one to four hours of train delay for projects east of Toledo scheduled through October 22, 2014.

4. Expect one to four hours of train delay for projects between Pittsburgh and Cleveland scheduled through October 2, 2014.

 

[jis]

So why wouldn't Amtrak place that information on their website for their customers?

Even today Unite still has a banner on their website about possible delays through Chicago due to the fires several days back. Shouldn't Amtrak treat its passenger at least as well as United, which is reputed to be one of the worse outfits among the US airlines?

 

[Bob Dylan]

See my post about Boardmans Dog and Pony show re the Hoosier in Indiana and Chicago! Fiddling while Rome Burns!

 

[montana mike]

Not looking good for #29 or #49 today. Looking like both got stuck in the "black hole" after Toledo. Now looking like both will be verrrry late into CHI, losing perhaps 5 hours in that short stretch. Amazing.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Any more info on busing from TOL or SOB for those making CHI connections?

And are they busing PGH- WAS for the same reason? Looks like its hopeless for the Late Shore!!!!!

 

[montana mike]

A brief discussion with an Amtrak rep disclosed they don't really know what to do at the moment. They were and are aware of the NS melt down (her words btw), but short of stopping both trains, which they don't want to do, she said they are just "hunkering down" with the mega delays each day. NS has told them to expect 4-6 hour delays thru the OH-IN stretch, for the "foreseeable future" as the railroad is both struggling with a big increase in traffic and are behind in track work--sort of a perfect storm that created this mess. She did mention bussing would happen on a day to day basis, but was not sure whether they opted for this today, since both the CL and LSL were actually doing quite well until between SOB and TOL. And, oh yes, because of this mess and people missing connections some sleeper pax, IF they can be accommodated, are not getting comparable accommodations on later trains. Just wonderful.

I am waiting a bit, but I may end up flying both ways to the east coast from ORD if this fiasco gets any worse.

 

[Ryan]

NS has told them to expect 4-6 hour delays thru the OH-IN stretch, for the "foreseeable future" as the railroad is both struggling with a big increase in traffic and are behind in track work--sort of a perfect storm that created this mess.

That sounds strangely familiar.

Can we get some non-idiots to run a railroad, because it looks like BNSF and NS are abject failures.

 

[montana mike]

Good Point. At least BNSF appears to have turned the corner a bit (with generous help from a very padded "new" schedule). I guess all we can do is watch things "evolve". I found it interesting that the railroad community was well aware of this meltdown in OH and IN and was rerouting as much as possible away from this area. I can imagine what it would be like if they weren't doing this! I have taken the LSL a number of times in the past and the CL several times and they actually had a decent track record when I rode them. Execution and delivery of a product or service is only as good as the weakest link and that short stretch between TOL and CHI is one weak link.

 

[jis]

Meanwhile how about Amtrak posting something for the benefit of their customers on their web site?

 

[montana mike]

I did bring that up, saying that it would be better for people to know this information. She said it was way above her pay grade. I think the suits at Amtrak are worried that ridership would fall off the cliff if all the facts were made available. Shortsighted to be sure, but not far from the mark I would wager.

3 PM (CDT) Update: Both the CL and LSL are still not at CUS-looking like perhaps 3:45 PM now?? Looks like they both dropped close to 6 hours on the short trek from TOL to CHI. Stunning!! It would appear Amtrak is holding a couple of the western LD trains (e.g. #7 will depart almost 2 hours late) to try to make some sense of this mess.

 

[benale]

I noticed 29 was nine hours late getting into Chicago the other day. What a nightmare! At that late hour I'm sure 3,5 and 7 didn't wait. Only connection that was possible was City Of New Orleans. People plan for months to take cross country trips starting on 29 and 49 and connecting with the Western trains. Until recently, this wasn't a concern. Now it is.. We are taking 29 connecting with 7 next spring. I hope by that time things are back to normal.

If 29 and 49 arrive before 3 do the connecting trains wait? We have every day planned with the train and many non refundable hotel reservations)Priceline) in California ad Oregon for our trip. If 29 is six,seven hours late our whole trip is messed up. I hate bustitution, but say it's Noon and 29 is in or near South Bend at a standstill, I would gladly take a bus ride to ensure I get to Union Station in time to make the 2:05 7 departure. We are driving to Toledo to start our trip. If things don't improve, we may have to drive to Chicago to make sure we catch our train.

I really hope things are better. This is truly a mess. I never thought I'd have to worry about making a Western connection.

 

[RRCOMM]

It has been suggested that we need a rail passenger bill of rights, I agree. To start the ball rolling I wrote this to Amtrak via Email:

I have a trip scheduled that I already paid for. Your service in to Chicago from the east is a wreck and you have not informed passengers what terrible delays they face. Be honest, tell the truth or I will go to congress. Please send this to Mr. Boardman.

Gotta start somewhere....

 

[montana mike]

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. I will contact them as well.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Well, apparently 49 lost its GPS in IND. It arrived right behind 29 ( 3:49 / 3:52). Could it have been hooked onto 29 with that close of arrival times?

Looks like they held 3 and 5.

 

[montana mike]

Well, apparently 49 lost its GPS in IND. It arrived right behind 29 ( 3:49 / 3:52). Could it have been hooked onto 29 with that close of arrival times?

Looks like they held 3 and 5.

and #7. While this helps, it just compounds the delays all over the country. Better than having to put up hundreds of really pissed off pax though

 

[afigg]

Meanwhile how about Amtrak posting something for the benefit of their customers on their web site?

This is what baffles me. Why has Amtrak not put out a service alert, even one with vague platitudes, warning that passengers should be prepared for significant delays between Cleveland and Chicago? Saying nothing makes passengers angrier when they realize that the CL and LSL are routinely running 3,4,6, even 10 hours late.

 

[jis]

Meanwhile how about Amtrak posting something for the benefit of their customers on their web site?

This is what baffles me. Why has Amtrak not put out a service alert, even one with vague platitudes, warning that passengers should be prepared for significant delays between Cleveland and Chicago? Saying nothing makes passengers angrier when they realize that the CL and LSL are routinely running 3,4,6, even 10 hours late.

I consider this more than anything else, an utter failure of management or a total disregard for the well being of and lack of respect for the paying customers. Even a simple bill of rights which says something like - when the operator is aware of pretty regular failure to run on schedule beyond more than 2 hours, a notification to that effect must appear on the public we site and each passenger must be notified forthwith of the generally expected delay as notified by the host railroad.
Clearly in case of LSL and CL Amtrak and the public who know to look at NS's web site have been notified, but Amtrak has been remiss in not passing that information onto its customers even being fully aware itself of the possibility.

I wish NARP would get of its pompous duff and at least deal with this simple thing. Be an advocate for the poor passenger instead of just being an advocate for Amtrak, or change your name to NAAA (National Association of Amtrak Advocates)

 

[afigg]

Ok, so October 1 was another very bad day for the westbound CL and LSL between Toledo and Chicago. Which means late eastbound departures from CHI tonight compounding the delays. Many of the Michigan service trains are getting badly jammed up as well from what I noticed.

Fred Frailey of Trains Magazine posted a column yesterday (Sept 30) on the NS meltdown: The new normal is highly abnormal. Lots of specifics in his column on the delays on Monday and Tuesday and the reasons why. Track work for Indiana Gateway projects are contributing to the mess.

I don't agree with his premise that what is occurring on the NS northern line is the new normal. I have been using the outstanding tools provided by several of forum members, Amtrak Status Maps, the archives, and the Archive database search tools. Outside of the CL, LSL, EB, CZ problems, the other LD trains have been doing ok over the past month. Since August 28, the northbound #52 AutoTrain has arrived early 27 out of 32 times, between 18-23 minutes late 3 times (which barely counts as late for the AT), and over 1 hour late twice. The Adirondack has been getting into Montreal early on a regular basis since late August. The #51 Cardinal arrived at CHI early or on-time 10 out of 13 times in September! (A daily Cardinal from WAS and NYP to CHI might be faster than the CL and LSL at the present).

The NEC is running into a lot of 10 to 20 minute delays, but I expect much of that can be attributed to the track projects in DE, NJ, and New Haven Line. So it is not all bad news or gloom & doom for on-time performance across the system.

 

[jis]

But at issue in this thread is the LSL and the CL. So whether the Atlantic Coast Line is doing well or not is a bit irrelevant. And of course why Amtrak refuses to let anyone know that there is a known mess in hand still remains a mystery.

 

[Eric S]

A brief discussion with an Amtrak rep disclosed they don't really know what to do at the moment. They were and are aware of the NS melt down (her words btw), but short of stopping both trains, which they don't want to do, she said they are just "hunkering down" with the mega delays each day.

"Don't really know what to do" - seems that issuing some sort of service advisory/delay alert would be a start.

Anybody at NARP noticing this? Following up with Amtrak as to why nothing but silence from them?