A failed inspection prompted the cancellation of the Chicago-Indianapolis Hoosier State this past week. Passengers were transported by bus.
The cancellations occurred on Wednesday morning after Amtrak inspectors cited the train for having wheel tolerances that failed to comply with federal regulations.
The inspectors ordered the defects on the two Iowa Pacific Holdings locomotives to be repaired.
The Hoosier State operates with Iowa Pacific equipment and an Amtrak operating crew.
Amtrak performed the repairs at its Chicago maintenance facility and the Hoosier State operated as scheduled Wednesday night to Indianapolis.
Trains magazine reported that Iowa Pacific asked for a separate inspection of its locomotives by a Federal Railroad Administration inspector before any work was done on the wheels.
However, Amtrak worker had already made the repairs before a joint FRA-Iowa Pacific-Amtrak inspection took place Wednesday morning.
The Indiana Department of Transportation pays Amtrak to perform needed repairs before the train leaves Chicago.
“At [Indiana’s] request, we have repeatedly made unscheduled repairs to multiple defects in its vendor’s equipment…and disrupted scheduled work on our own equipment in order to make every effort to dispatch these trains on time,” said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari.
Tags: Amtrak, Hoosier State, Iowa Pacific, Iowa Pacific Holdings, Iowa Pacific trains
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