Hurricane Katrina is getting ready to pound the Gulf Coast a-la 'Camille' (for those of you old enough to remember that far back, I lived in Hattiesburg MS for that one!) and service to and from and across the Gulf Coast is being revised. The 'Carolinian', 'City of New Orleans', and 'Sunset Limited' all are terminating or amending their services long before the reach their final destinations.
I guess what bothers me is that, for instance, the 'City of New Orleans' and Crescent'will not be providing 'Alternate Transportation' to its passengers going any further than Memphis or Atlanta.
I know this is a matter of safety for the trains and its passengers, but what about the abandoned passengers? Why are they not given 'alternate transportation' or any further assistance from Amtrak, just 'dumped' on the side of the tracks? And what about the extra cost of them providing their own transportation to the final destinations? Or the value of the remaining portion of their Amtrak ticket?
Any thoughts on this?
And has anyone else experienced this type of 'No Alternate Transportation' from Amtrak, not being able to get to your final destination because of a natural disaster amending Amtrak services? I think I will feel utterly helpless!
-------------------- The best part of life is the journey, not the destination. Posts: 497 | From: Clarksburg, West Virginia | Registered: Oct 2003
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The passengers also have the choice of not starting a trip that will be terminated before their destination. When the Empire Builder runs into winter problems & is terminated in St Paul, everyone who boards the train Between Chicago and Red Wing knows this is the case and there will be no transportation beyond St Paul. If they choose to board anyway, they should not be surprised to be "stranded" in St Paul. Passengers intending to go to New Orleans surely know of the impending hurricane and would be wise to postpone their trip. When a trip is terminated early without prior warning, THEN I would have a problem with no alternative transportation.
Posts: 122 | From: Milwaukee, WI USA | Registered: Jun 2004
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I guess I was asking more in the lines of those who may be trying to get back to family and homes. I am sure this is a 'hopeless feeling' to them. I hope they use good judgement in proceeding past the 'point of no return'.
With the possibility of a direct hit on New Orleans, this hurricane has the highest probability of having a very bad outcome...
-------------------- The best part of life is the journey, not the destination. Posts: 497 | From: Clarksburg, West Virginia | Registered: Oct 2003
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I just received a call stating that the SL will not be coming through Houston on Wednesday evening, due to the hurricane. They plan on turning the eastbound SL at San Antonio. There is no available transportation from Beaumont or Houston to San Antonio, despite my having tickets in my possesion that state I have "said" transportation...
My trip goes from Houston to Alpine on Wednesday and returns on Monday. There is no problem with the return. Unfortunately, I cannot drive to San Antonio and return to Houston. I would have to depart the train very late in the evening and drive home from San Antonio. That sucks BIG!
I'll call Amtrak Washington on Monday to see if they will arrange bus transportation from the Houston Station.
Posts: 1418 | From: Houston, Republic of Texas | Registered: Jan 2001
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I think Mike's predicament illustrates another side the problem outlined in the original question. Surely, nobody in their right mind will want to enter a hurricane zone, but for those with tickets trying to get out of it, some alternate transportation would certainly be in order.
Posts: 2649 | From: California's Monterey Peninsula | Registered: Dec 2000
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This is kind of what I was getting at Mike and Mr. Toy but did not phrase it right the first time...THANKS!
What about the folks whose trains YESTERDAY were terminated in Atlanta and Memphis? There was no hurricane anywhere near the coast then. And those folks this morning that had tickets to leave NOL n/b on the 'City of New Orleans' and 'Crescent' (there was still plenty of time to run those trains), are they just crap out of luck? Or do they get refunds? This left loads of passengers/vacationers stuck in New Orleans that may be on the end of their vacations with no alternate means of escape and no where to go. I am sure the cost of a last minute air ticket to replace a cancelled train is cost prohibitive.
AMTRAK certainly should have run those two trains last night to their destinations, and turned them around this morning, FULL of 'escapees', and truly been the hero. This would in no means have endangered their trains.
-------------------- The best part of life is the journey, not the destination. Posts: 497 | From: Clarksburg, West Virginia | Registered: Oct 2003
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Even those who want to escape now, can't. Amtrak, the airport, bridges leading out of town....closed. The roads leading out of the state jammed to where a 3 hour trip now takes 8 hours. Fox News was showing live the port of New Orleans with cargo ships and super tankers still docked. And the lines of thousands of people to get into the shelter at the Super Bowl stretched for blocks. Now at 165mph but gusts to 202mph and still a category 5 aimed right at New Orleans. And dont forget there are NINE major oil refineries in this area as well as major chemical refineries here. New Orleans itself is under MANDATORY evacuations orders.
-------------------- The best part of life is the journey, not the destination. Posts: 497 | From: Clarksburg, West Virginia | Registered: Oct 2003
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Maybe the trains to New Orleans were halted at Memphis, Atlanta, etc, yesterday because Amtrak knew the worker's that turn and service these trains were evacuating. Shouldn't their safety and that of their families come first.
Posts: 15 | From: Mke, WI, USA | Registered: Jun 2003
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But Amtrak could have also offered their employees AND their families the opportunity to evacuate this morning on the trains (if they were running), FREE of charge, to points in all directions away from the storm: East towards JAX, west towards Houston and San Antonio, Northeast to Birmingham or Atlanta, north to Memphis. How hard would it have been to add extra cars to the backend of departing trains? If they were going to move their rolling stock out of the area, why not do it with pasengers on it?
This would have been a wonderful service to their staff, their families, and their passengers.
-------------------- The best part of life is the journey, not the destination. Posts: 497 | From: Clarksburg, West Virginia | Registered: Oct 2003
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Grandma Judy - when was the EB ever terminated in St. Paul because of winter weather? I don't recall EVER hearing of that......
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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Actually it has happened more than once. In January of 1995 (? - not positive of the year, but approx then) I was in Chicago to meet my daughter coming in on the LakeShore Limited (which arrived at 3 PM after I was told at 9 AM it would be in within an hour), and I heard them announcing repeatedly that the EB would be terminating in St Paul due to "severe winter weather conditions" and no alternate transoportation to areas west would be provided. It also seems to me that I saw a notice on the Amtrak website in the last few years about a similar termination in St Paul. The issue is not weather per se - rather avalanches blocking tracks or drifting snow in North Dakota/Montana deemed too heavy to pass.
Posts: 122 | From: Milwaukee, WI USA | Registered: Jun 2004
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Thanks Grandma Judy! Yes I can certainly understand avalanches cancelling trains, but apparently this is not something that happens often (like once a week or every other day)on the EB --
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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Any NEW or updated word on an Amtrak plan yet to assist in evacuations?
-------------------- The best part of life is the journey, not the destination. Posts: 497 | From: Clarksburg, West Virginia | Registered: Oct 2003
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