Amtrak had no problem cancelling an Empire Builder last week that arrived about 6 hours late into Seattle/Portland. But then on Friday, May 12, 2023, they released a near 9 hour late train from Seattle/Portland that caused crews to get out of place/turn, passengers likely seeking alternative plans than sitting around waiting for what was a 9 hour late train and grew into a 20 hour late train, and most of all - led to the cancellation of two Empire Builder trains - Train 7/27 of May 15 and its counterpart Train 8/27 of May 17. The May 12th Empire Builder should have never been released from its western terminuses of Seattle/Portland.
Better yet, Amtrak should be going BACK to its age-old practice of short-turning the westbound train set at Spokane when the westbound is 4 to 5 hours late. Late trains just get later and it will arrive late into Seattle/Portland and then cause a late eastbound to be released, only to run into a domino effect of non-rested crews and further delays by the time the trains cross cross at Minot, ND. The short-turning at Spokane, WA prevented outright cancellations. Bustitution to/from Spokane and Seattle/Portland, but it allows for a “reset” without cancelling or jeopardizing multiple trains - and was common practice pre-2017 for years on end (back at least to the 80s). Amtrak has an established Thruway bus service between Spokane and Seattle. So it’s not like they have to go totally shooting in the dark - there’s some established relationship (and has been).
Overall, the Empire Builder has the shortest ”same day turn” on the West Coast (of the Southwest Chief, Sunset Limited, and CA Zephyr). But BNSF also does a pretty descent job of getting it over the road pretty timely - along with a pretty significant padded schedule in the intermediate sections of the timetable. Helps, but things can still fall apart…..I follow the Empire Builder’s performance pretty regularly. Or try to!
