RAILforum: Amtrak derailment in Washington Union Station Causes Delays

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Posted by Trainsandmore (Member # 896) on :

Guys I have saw this Article From The Trainsmag.com

Two Baggage cars on Amtrak train 92, The SILVER STAR, derailed just north of Washington Union Station around 3 p.m. this afternoon. The Derailment occurred at track 25/26, and blocked all tracks to the station's lower level, which primarily serves southbounds and through trains.

No one was injured, but train service in and out of Union Station including those operated by Amtrak, Virginia Railway Express, and MARC - has been affected. Amtrak crews are working to rerail the cars. The cause of the incident has not yet been determined.

So guys what is your reaction to this.

Posted by MPALMER (Member # 125) on :

Absolutely embarrassing. How bad will the fallout be?

Also....accidents happen. Is there no capability to rapidly repair the damage & get things rolling again?

Posted by Steve Dunham (Member # 924) on :

I got an e-mail alert from VRE shortly before I left work in Arlington, VA. It directed riders to alternative transportation, in some cases, depending on the destination, special transport arranged by VRE. As a Fredericksburg passenger, I was directed to take the Metro to Franconia-Springfield (Metro would honor the VRE tickets) and take special bus route no. 2.

So I rode Metro from Crystal City to Franconia-Springfield, then got in the enormous line for buses to Fredericksburg. It moved fairly well, though, and I spend about 45 minutes in line. The afternoon temperature had been near 100, but fortunately the shade from the parking garage was reaching the area of the line about the time I arrived.

I rode a Metrobus, which took about half an hour longer than VRE to reach Fredericksburg.

I think that VRE did well enough under the circumstances. Amtrak, though, did not communicate well. There was nothing on the train status page of their website to indicate that trains were delayed indefinitely or annulled, even when I queried about specific southbound evening trains. This morning, the VRE website said Amtrak was substituting buses for trains 84 and 86. Again, nothing on the Amtrak website to indicate this, and no Amtrak announcements at Fredericksburg (there never are, unless knowledgeable passengers make them). When the bus for 84 pulled in half an hour behind 84's time, the driver spent about 10 minutes trying to locate any Amtrak passengers waiting for 84 (the train platform is upstairs). VRE train 310 departed about 20 minutes after the bus; I saw the same bus again at Alexandria. I'm pretty sure the VRE train got to Washington Union Station first.

This morning at Fredericksburg I saw what looked like the Silver Meteor (empty?) heading south. Why it took so long to rerail (or move) a couple of baggage cars and get at least one track open, I don't know.
Why it

Posted by DC2001 (Member # 542) on :

The Silver Meteor delayed into this morning is inexcusable. There have to be (freight) tracks which run around the immediate Union station area, and at least the long-distance trains could get through. Don't freight lines diverge somewhere south of the D.C. tunnel and north of New Carrollton? While I am sure this would take a while (use a spare trainset to shuttle passengers out to New Carrollton's platforms), it would have taken far less time than waiting all evening (and apparently half the night) to clear the derailment. This might not be practical for Richmond, Va. trains, but the Meteor?

Posted by Steve Dunham (Member # 924) on :

Yes, I thought about the possibility of their sending the trains detouring up into Maryland a few miles and using the CSX freight tunnel that joins the passenger line by L'Enfant Plaza.

True, it is a congested single-track line but they could have fit a few passenger trains into the mix. In fact, if VRE had coupled their equipment into two long trains, one for Manassas and one for Fredericksburg, and sent them north, I'm sure CSX could have fit two more trains down that line and the two trains could have carried all the VRE riders home. This would have been more comfortable and probably taken no longer than putting everybody on local transit buses for rides of 20 to 40 miles.

Posted by Steve Dunham (Member # 924) on :

I asked VRE about detouring trains via Maryland. They said that with a little more time it might have been possible, but that pilots are required too since the VRE crews aren't qualified on the Anacostia branch.

VRE also has a contract for emergency bus service (they don't have to use it) but in case of emergency they can give the word and put the plan into action.

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Steve Dunham
Literalman@aol.com
http://www.stevedunham.50megs.com/