Contingency planning for disaster avoidance and recovery at Amtrak

[GAT]

This may not be the right thread to query this, but, speaking of high winds, during my recent CZ eastbound trip a day after the severe tornado activity in the mid-west April 11 and 12, I was wondering how Amtrak would handle a situation where a train was warned it was headed into or was already in a severe tornado area. What, for instance, if the engineer saw cells forming nearby? Should he halt the train or not? Does Amtrak have written plans for this type of scenario? Do they have threat assessments on what type of damage a tornado can do to a Superliner? How should passengers be instructed? All sorts of questions.

 

[Rasputin]

This may not be the right thread to query this, but, speaking of high winds, during my recent CZ eastbound trip a day after the severe tornado activity in the mid-west April 11 and 12, I was wondering how Amtrak would handle a situation where a train was warned it was headed into or was already in a severe tornado area. What, for instance, if the engineer saw cells forming nearby? Should he halt the train or not? Does Amtrak have written plans for this type of scenario? Do they have threat assessments on what type of damage a tornado can do to a Superliner? How should passengers be instructed? All sorts of questions.

I believe in most respects the dispatchers for the freight railroads on which Amtrak trains operate are in charge.

 

[GAT]

I believe in most respects the dispatchers for the freight railroads on which Amtrak trains operate are in charge.

I see. But even if freight dispatch is responsible for whether the train stops or goes, Surely Amtrak must have some worst-case contingency plans, no? Or am I being naive? Of course, I suppose not much can be done if a Superliner gets hit by a tornado.

 

[jis]

I see. But even if freight dispatch is responsible for whether the train stops or goes, Surely Amtrak must have some worst-case contingency plans, no? Or am I being naive? Of course, I suppose not much can be done if a Superliner gets hit by a tornado.

What would be an example of a contingency plan when a train is stuck among a bunch of freight trains due to blocked track for whatever reasons?

Of course once something happens then depending on the situation they have to figure out how to keep the passengers safe and fed etc., often done in collaboration with local emergency services. I don't think any of that had to be exercised in this case. I am sure they did have to replace T&E crew that had run out of time.

 

[GAT]

What would be an example of a contingency plan when a train is stuck among a bunch of freight trains due to blocked track for whatever reasons?

Of course once something happens then depending on the situation they have to figure out how to keep the passengers safe and fed etc., often done in collaboration with local emergency services. I don't think any of that had to be exercised in this case. I am sure they did have to replace T&E crew that had run out of time.

Jis, I think your second paragraph answers your question in the first. However, the time to to figure out how to “keep the passengers safe and fed etc.”, (and I would add rescued if necessary) is before something happens, not once something happens. Sure, the plans won’t be airtight; circumstances vary too much. But the more potential circumstances management can identify and plan for (and test for if possible) the better prepared they will be.

I agree the event discussed by the original poster might not have resulted in different recovery action; my question was prompted by the serious tornado situation experienced in mid-April and the 200-mile-long one that happened earlier this year in AK, KY, and TN.

On a lighter(?) note, I can picture a “Poseidon” type movie where an entire Amtrak consist with 200+ passengers and crew is picked up by a gigantic tornado and tossed into a 200-foot-deep canyon. But then, that’s just my runaway imagination. Or maybe it lands in Oz, chugging down the yellow brick railroad?

 

[Rasputin]

I am sure that Amtrak has some specific detailed instructions for what employees need to do in the event of an emergency. Perhaps it is in the service manual or maybe it is in another document. I recall seeing such a booklet issued by CP Rail years ago dealing with emergencies involving passenger trains. I seem to recall that one of the instructions was: Avoid stopping a passenger train on a bridge in an emergency.

I have assumed that with a derailment such as at Chester, Montana or Cimmaron, Kansas, (if I have those locations correct), the conductor or engineer immediately notifies the dispatcher who then notifies emergency services in the area. However perhaps with the proliferation of cell phones, the conductor also calls 911 and probably some passengers do as well. Perhaps someone knows the exact protocol.

 

[GAT]

I imagine also that the government requires Amtrak to create emergency and disaster recovery strategies at the corporate level and push them down to operating units for development of specific plans which I hope, would include testing plans.

This article from 2012 sheds some light. I found several more when I Googled "Amtrak Disaster Recovery Planning."

https://ohsonline.com/articles/2012/05/03/amtrak-creates-emergency-management-department.aspx