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Amtrak service suspended between Seattle and Portland
Jesus wept ! Don’t buy this for a second. Passenger Service was suspended when the first snowflakes hit the rails. Freight service continued. I guess the freights steer around those 1" limbs maybe Rails too slippery? Or getting thru those 6" drifts was too much? Maybe it is time to sell Amtrak to someone who knows how to run a railroad… all year long
It’s not just Amtrak Service (which is shut down on a regular basis), the whole railroad shut down including UP, BNSF, and Tacoma Rail. Sounder service was having issues with downed trees as well.
It just goes to show that those people who are out there to look over our interest have no clue on the issues that snow and rain can cause to a rail system, The cascades are a prime example of how mother nature truly controls us, the politicians with all the education!!! Have never travelled on a train or in the cab of a locomotive racing down the ribbons of steel rounding a curve and finding a tree or something blocking the track, I bet you put any one of then into the seat of a loco with 15000 tones behind it and go into emergency they would crap there pants.
As an ex boilermaker supervisor locomotive erecting shop supervisor I have seen my share of damaged loco’s from minor to major accidents from those supposed small trees to head on accidents.
Those politicians should keep there heads out of there butts and let amtrak and others get funded and run in a way that safety is never a worry with funds in p,ace to keep everything running to maximum safety levels always no compromises.
Assuming what Mr. Jackson says is true, I bet it comes from BNSF’s legal department. They’re probably afraid of the lawsuits from passengers injured (and families of passengers killed) if a passenger train derails due to damage along the line. No doubt a court would say the prudent thing would have been to suspend service and they were reckless not to. OTOH, if a freight train derails, not only are the casualties limited to 2 crew, but the railroad can also claim the crew was advised of the conditions and had the authority to operate at what they felt was a safe speed, even if that meant stopping.
Let’s the think about it a second: Was I-5 shutdown? Were mosy motorists stuck in place? If so, this item is hardly notable.
However, being that passenger rail is basically an underfunded public utility, if Amtrak or any passenger rail system were to shut down regionally when other modes are operating we have a problem. We indeed have a current problem in that there are no redundancies in Amtrak. Cancellations of the Capitol Limited between Pittsburgh and Washington are an example.
Look at the bright side, they saved lots of money by not operating any trains.
It would seem that Amtrak is being operated by those who were trained on an airline. They are afraid of their own shadow and it helps the host railroads that such is the case. No Amtrak trains operating, then they can move their freight whenever they wish without any interference. I should add that the Amtrak position has certainly been fostered my the Legal staffs of their own as well as tose of the host roads. Another factor: Running trains only when the conditions are optimal assures better on-time statistics to please the powers in Washington, DC.