Southwest Chief Service Disruption

[Leeah Aeryn]

Amtrak emailed me today to say that a trip I had booked for the 22nd of February on the Southwest Chief from Gallup, NM to Albuquerque, NM was canceled due to a "service disruption." I tried booking a train for the next day and it also said that train was canceled. Does anyone know for sure what's going on, if service is canceled permanently or expected to resume? I've tried looking for news on this but can only find old articles.

 

[Leeah Aeryn]

I got the message today that a train journey I had booked on the Southwest Chief in February had been canceled due to a service disruption. Trains also seem to be canceled in February and March. Does anyone know where I can read about how this affects the train service and when it's expected to resume? Any articles I can find about schedule changes are old.

 

[lrh442]

Due to COVID-related staffing shortages Amtrak has announced curtailment of service on many routes, with long distance routes being especially impacted. For the Southwest Chief, beginning January 24th train s will NOT originate in Chicago or Los Angeles on Mondays and Tuesdays. Trains will operate normally for departures on Wednesday through Sunday. This is scheduled to continue through March 28, subject to the whims of both Amtrak and COVID.

Your February 22 trip from Gallup to Albuquerque would have been a Monday departure from LAX, and thus one of the trains that is cancelled.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Here are the schedules for the long distance trains during the reduced service.

 

[me_little_me]

I got the message today that a train journey I had booked on the Southwest Chief in February had been canceled due to a service disruption. Trains also seem to be canceled in February and March. Does anyone know where I can read about how this affects the train service and when it's expected to resume? Any articles I can find about schedule changes are old.

SWC runs 5 days a week. Good news is that if they find the same accommodations when you call, you get it at the same price - and that goes for other trains on your trip. So ours from ABQ to CHI (then with a planned overnight) they changed our return date and charged no more for the Cardinal even though we kept the overnight in CHI.