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People stuck on board an Amtrak train for more than 29 hours had to be told by the conductor they were not being held hostage: report
Business Insider ^ | Jan 11, 2023 | Cheryl Teh and Hannah Getahun

Posted on 01/11/2023 7:10:32 AM PST by where's_the_Outrage?

Passengers on an Amtrak train were stranded in South Carolina after their train took a detour due to another train derailing.

Some passengers fresh out of patience appeared to have started calling the police, per ABC News.

A train conductor was heard telling passengers they weren't being held hostage, per videos seen by ABC News.

An Amtrak trip from Virginia to Orlando turned into a nightmare this week after passengers were kept on board the train for more than 29 hours.

ABC News reported that the Auto Train in question left Virginia at 5 p.m. on Monday, and was meant to reach Florida by 10 a.m. on Tuesday. However, the Amtrak train was taken off its normal route after a CSX freight train collided with a vehicle on the tracks during the South Carolina leg of the journey — resulting in the Amtrak Auto Train needing to be diverted off-course, reported ABC News.

This was just the beginning of the mess: the Amtrak passenger train's journey was then halted in South Carolina. Passengers had to wait for a certified backup crew to arrive because there are specific crews who can operate Auto Trains, per ABC News. Additionally, safety laws control how many hours train employees are allowed to work.

Some passengers who were out of patience with Amtrak after being delayed for hours also appeared to have started calling the police, ABC News reported.

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Travel
KEYWORDS: amtrak; trains
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To: Vigilanteman

Don’t get me started on how immensely superior Japan is culturally to the America of the 3rd decade of the 21st century.


41 posted on 01/11/2023 8:32:57 AM PST by nwrep
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To: V_TWIN

It was headed for Orlando FL and it broke down in SC.
I’m surprised they didn’t give people the opportunity to get their cars and be on their way.


42 posted on 01/11/2023 8:33:14 AM PST by scrabblehack
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

My daughter & took an Amtrak to/from Omaha to Chicago during the winter several years ago. A week later, the train from Chicago to Omaha got held up for 8 hours. A tree had fallen across the tracks & it took them that long to get a crew out to clear it.


43 posted on 01/11/2023 8:43:33 AM PST by Mean Daddy (Every time Hillary lies, a demon gets its wings. - Windflier)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?
My first/only(years ago)experience with Amtrak...January trip from San Bernardino, CA to Port Huron, MI.

Was stuck in Salt Lake City due to a snow storm(hours that seemed like days). Ended up leaving Salt Lake without bar/food car. Missed most of the scenery thru the Rockies(night travel). Moron train attendant kept opening the doors/going between cars at 3 in the morning in below zero temps. Older couple, guy looked like he was freezing, couldn't sleep. I offered him a blanket I had brought with me...within a few minutes he was zzzzz(wife said thanks...she was able to then sleep)

With no food car they stopped in the morning and picked up bagels and cream cheese for breakfast, KFC for dinner...no big deal.

The good

Stopping at the old train stations(cool)

Seeing an old 1800's-style train car setup at night, that was on the tracks next to us at our stop in Denver.

The bad

The scenery east of the Rockies(in January)...uggg

Over-all it wasn't a bad experience, still got to see some nice scenery. The train was very late getting into Chicago, was going to have to spend the night in union station to wait for my connection to Port Huron. Ended up catching a Southwest flight out of Midway to Detroit City instead...guess I had enough of January train travel after 3-4 days(?). Fortunately I had booked a rail-fly package(thank G d)so the 4 day there only took 4 hours to return home.

Would I do it again?...

Maybe, but

1. not in January

2. only west of the Rockies

3. a sleeper(expensive, yes)would be a must.

...but my travel days are pretty much over now.

44 posted on 01/11/2023 8:50:43 AM PST by RckyRaCoCo (Please Pray For My Brother Ken.)
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To: gundog
I guess they could have gotten out and walked, so, not hostages.

It's smart to check first though, otherwise you may get shot when you leave.

45 posted on 01/11/2023 8:51:13 AM PST by seowulf (Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty, and dies with chaos...Will Durant)
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To: scrabblehack

“I’m surprised they didn’t give people the opportunity to get their cars and be on their way.”

I’m guessing there was no way to do that. There’s a good chance it stopped in a remote area with no roads.

Also I’m not sure about the load unload process but I suspect theres infrastructure and equipment requirements and it’s gotta be done at the train station.....just a guess.


46 posted on 01/11/2023 8:54:49 AM PST by V_TWIN (America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave!)
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To: shotgun

People’s Express!!! When I was in DC, my dad took me to Dulles looking for their desk. I was looking to book a ticket to London & wanted to fly cheap. Finally went to another desk to ask them where the PE desk was and they pointed to the end of the airline desks. Walked down and around the corner there was a rollaway desk with the PE logo. My dad wouldn’t let me book with them!!


47 posted on 01/11/2023 8:55:23 AM PST by Mean Daddy (Every time Hillary lies, a demon gets its wings. - Windflier)
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To: gundog

I think the closest town was Denmark, SC so yeah smack dab in the middle of nowhere


48 posted on 01/11/2023 8:55:25 AM PST by struggle
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To: V_TWIN

I have fond memories of riding the train from New York to Los Angeles with Mom in 1954. I was three years old. I remember the Vista car and playing with my toy cars on the floor and that’s it. That was the last time I rode a passenger train.

I take that back. I rode steam locomotive passenger trains in China in 1976 and 1977. The commies covered the car windows so the passengers could not look out at the devastation from the Tangshan Earthquake July 28, 1976 when I went through the area about six months after the quake.


49 posted on 01/11/2023 8:56:41 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (Once you get people to believe that a plural pronoun is singular, they'll believe anything - nicollo)
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To: GOPJ

“did the conductor get his job based on sexual kink, color and political position?”

If Amtrak, then the answer is, “Yes”. Amtrak’s existence is a make-work entity for minorities.


50 posted on 01/11/2023 9:05:28 AM PST by MayflowerMadam (Stupid is supposed to hurt.)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

It should not be difficult to stop at any old local train station and put the passengers up in a hotel for the night if they wish continue the journey. They are essentially being held against their will because the train crew was able to disembark but that option was apparently not provided to the passengers. Or so it sounds. This cattle-like treatment from start to finish is precisely why normal people despise public transportation (and why the Stalinists love it).


51 posted on 01/11/2023 9:05:51 AM PST by Stingray51 ( )
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To: Ford4000

I watched a video on YouTube of a guy who does a lot of adventure camping.

On this one he and a buddy took a train trip across Canada. On the return, the route went within a couple miles of his house as it went to the next station many miles west.

The conductor talked to the engineer and the entire train made a quick stop so they could get out near home.


52 posted on 01/11/2023 9:22:08 AM PST by cyclotic (Follow 1776rm.com. Fighting for our Constitution. @1776RM on Truth)
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To: Ford4000

Must’ve been nice. Maybe there is some exception to the ridiculous rules.

I was stuck on a commuter train a few times, albeit brief. One time, it stopped just a quarter mile from our stop. I guess the terrain is too uneven and you’d have to go under a road overpass to get to it. They wouldn’t let us off and we probably waited a half hour or so.

The only one I recall on Amtrak was because of a rotation bridge that wouldn’t align. They did get us another train on the other side but we could not get out of the train near the bridge until they brought buses to take us to the other side.


53 posted on 01/11/2023 9:49:50 AM PST by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMV)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Bueller…
Bueller…
Bueller…
Buttigieg…
Buttigieg…
Buttigieg…


54 posted on 01/11/2023 10:07:13 AM PST by Skybird
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To: scrabblehack

I’m surprised they didn’t give people the opportunity to get their cars and be on their way.
————-
No way to unload cars while stranded out in the boonies.


55 posted on 01/11/2023 10:13:11 AM PST by Skybird
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

I rode on what was a normal 8 hour ride on Amtrak turned in to a 24 hour horror show. The first and last time I will take that horrid transportation system. The train sat on a spur track for nearly a full day just on the Oregon border letting cargo trains pass. It ran out of water so there was nothing to drink and the toilets couldn’t flush. It is run just as well as any bureaucracy . And NO one apologized and no one, of course, was held to account. But the democrats sure love their choo choos and can’t wait to force us all to use them.


56 posted on 01/11/2023 11:13:29 AM PST by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes)
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To: Mean Daddy

It wasn’t a bad airline. I was working in Oswego NY but dating a gal in Newark. So I would fly down every weekend. $50 RT.

Funny thing was they would collect the money for the flight from the passengers once it was airborne. They would have a stewardess come down the aisle from the front and the back. One would collect money and the other serve drinks. When they met in middle. The one serving would collect money and the one collecting would start serving.

I don’t know what happened if a person didn’t have any money because you were already airborne.

The flights were like cattle cars and were first come first serve. Just show up at the gate and board when they say. On this particular weekend I made a reservation because it a later afternoon flight I and wanted to make sure I had a seat, but they had boarded the aircraft full before I got on. So, they offered me a free flight anywhere they flew. That’s how I got the tickets to Miami. I had to wait another hour or so and caught the next flight.


57 posted on 01/11/2023 11:18:37 AM PST by shotgun
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To: AF_Blue

I have been on the East Coast to Florida ride.

Your train stops occasionally so the police can meet your train and remove a criminal who is in the passenger cars.

I had a private car.


58 posted on 01/11/2023 11:22:25 AM PST by Chickensoup (Genocide is here. Leftist extremists are spearhheading the Genocide against conservatives. )
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

I can’t believe no one has posted “Frozen Trains.”

Eddie Willers sniffs back a tear.


59 posted on 01/11/2023 11:28:42 AM PST by NonValueAdded ("There should have been an age and risk stratification approach." still true)
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To: shotgun

That was the other reason my dad didn’t want me flying it was you had to have exact change once they took off!! I had forgotten about that!! Seemed like you could buy a brown bag meal as well. Greyhound of the skies!!!


60 posted on 01/11/2023 4:13:51 PM PST by Mean Daddy (Every time Hillary lies, a demon gets its wings. - Windflier)
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