Just in time for Christmas Amtrak is curtailing service in the Midwest in advance of a winter storm that will bring subzero temperatures and heavy snow in some places.
The cancellations affect corridor service from Chicago to Milwaukee, St. Louis and Detroit (Pontiac). Also affected is the route between St. Louis and Kansas City and the Chicago-Seattle/Portland Empire Builder.
The cancellations are in effect on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
Cancelled are Wolverine Service Trains 352 and 353 between Chicago and Pontiac; Lincoln Service Trains 300, 301, 305 and 306 between Chicago and St. Louis; and Hiawatha Service Trains 329, 332, 333, 336, 337 and 340.
On the Missouri River Runner route trains will not operate on Saturday or Sunday between St. Louis and Kansas City, which means there will be no Amtrak service on those dates.
The Empire Builder will not depart Chicago or from the West Coast on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Amtrak ran an extra section of its Wolverine Service over three days during the Thanksgiving 2017 travel period.
It was able to use equipment that would otherwise be laying over in Chicago before its next assignment to hit the road and add capacity during a busy holiday travel period.
But these extra sections of Midwest Corridor trains won’t be running this year due to shortages of equipment and operating personnel. As it is suspensions on three Midwest Corridors will result in less capacity than normal and there are few if any additional cars that Amtrak can add to trains that are running as scheduled.
The train shown above, operating as No. 356, is shown crossing the Huron River in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in Barton Park. P42DC No. 33 is trailing in this image. The train will turn back to Chicago in Ann Arbor thus there is a locomotive on each end.
Amtrak Wolverine Service No. 351 gets onto the Chicago Line of Norfolk Southern in Porter, Indiana, on Oct. 23
In the wake of an incident involving a Wolverine Service train in early October, Amtrak said it is changing its policies for handling situations in which trains suffer severe mechanical issues that adversely affects passenger comfort.
Amtrak said it will seek to get passengers off trains that lack heating, air conditioning, electricity, and working toilets whether that involves moving the train to the nearest station or finding other transportation.
“We need to get people off these trains as soon as possible when the comfort systems aren’t working properly,” Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari told MLive.com. “That’s a strong position that we have.”
MLive, which also publishes newspapers in Michigan and is owned by Advance Publications, the same company that owns The Plain Dealer of Cleveland, reported that Amtrak president Roger Harris sent an email message this week to passengers who were aboard Train 351 on Oct. 7 to apologize for the conditions they experienced.
“The service fell far short of what we hold ourselves accountable for and that we promise to deliver to our customers and our partners at the State of Michigan,” Harris wrote.
On Oct. 7, Train 351 suffered numerous mechanical issues while en route, including a locomotive failure that knocked out head-end power to the passenger cars.
News reports said several passengers fled the train in East Chicago, Indiana, as it waited for a new crew after the original crew exceeded the federal hours of service rule.
Those passengers opened doors, walked across active railroad tracks and waded through tall grass to reach a nearby highway where they summoned ride sharing services to pick them up.
Train 351 eventually reached Chicago Union Station shortly after midnight, just over 13.5 hours late.
By then it had been combined with Wolverine Service Train 353, which was operating three hours behind it.
Harris said in his email the crew made “well-intentioned efforts” to keep the train going but Amtrak should have canceled the service and provided alternative transportation.
Magliari told told MLive that buses were not available “because of insufficient vehicles, drivers or both.”
The MLive story said Amtrak plans to streamline service recovery efforts by setting up an operation center in Delaware.
“Instead of having regional decision making, which could vary depending on which part of the country you’re in, our effort here is to consolidate it and make it consistent and make it accountable,” Magliari said.
Amtrak refunded the fares of about 400 passengers on Trains 351 and 353 that day while Harris offered them a $100 travel credit.
“I hope that you will consider riding on Amtrak again soon, and I would like to repeat my apology for our clear failure to provide the service that we expected, and intended, to deliver,” he wrote.
Passengers who incurred additional expenses in getting to their destination can submit receipts and claims to MichiganServiceDisruption@Amtrak.com.
MLive had earlier reported that some passengers aboard the trains said vouchers or refunds of their fare were not enough to satisfy them.
They said they wanted more information from Amtrak as to what happened and why.
“This is just a really frustrating experience with the lack of communication from Amtrak,” said Sarah Pisarczyk, 21, who was traveling from Ann Arbor to Chicago to attend a Harry Styles concert.
Amtrak reimbursed Mark Hovermale of Novi and his wife $80 — the cost of two one-way tickets — but he wants the passenger carrier to also pay expenses he incurred for hiring an Uber driver, hotel fees and his return trip to Ann Arbor.
I don’t want to get back on it,” he said before boarding the train on the Monday after his initial trip. “Renting a car at this point would be $400 or $500 to come back. A last-minute flight is too expensive. We made these arrangements. Most of us are jokingly but very scared to get back on the train.”
Amtrak did pay for passengers who missed their connections to another train to stay in a hotel in Chicago.
Amtrak Wolverine Service No. 350 gets onto the Michigan Line in Porter, Indiana, en route to Pontiac, Michigan, in February 2022.
Amtrak is citing equipment and personnel shortages for suspending two Wolverine Service trains next week until mid-September.
In a service advisory, Amtrak said Nos. 350 and 355 between Chicago and Detroit (Pontiac) would be suspended starting Aug. 29 and continuing through Sept. 16.
No. 350 is the early morning departure from Chicago while No. 355 is the late afternoon departure from Pontiac.
No alternative service is being provided for the suspended trains. Amtrak said Nos. 350 and 355 will resume operating on Sept. 17.
The suspensions will not affect operations of Wolverine Service Trains 351, 352, 353 and 354.
Amtrak has attributed various Midwest corridor service suspensions this summer to a shortage of equipment and personnel.
Among the trains suspended for a few days to more than a week have been the Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg between Chicago and Quincy, Illinois; and two Lincoln Service trains between Chicago and St. Louis.
Since January the southbound Saluki and northbound Illini in the Chicago-Carbondale, Illinois, corridor have been suspended and no date has been announced as to when those trains will be restored.
Amtrak Wolverine Service No. 350 curves off the Chicago Line of Norfolk Southern onto Amtrak-owned track at Porter, Indiana, on Feb. 27, 2022.
Amtrak will modify the schedules of three Wolverine Service trains between Chicago and Detroit (Pontiac) effective March 7, 2022.
In a service advisory Amtrak said the scheduled changes are due to planned track work and other infrastructure projects being sponsored on the segment of the route owned by the Michigan Department of Transportation and Amtrak.
Train 350 will originate in Chicago 35 minutes earlier at 6:45 a.m. It is currently scheduled to depart Union Station at 7:20 a.m.
Train 352 will originate in Chicago 55 minutes later at 2:15 p.m. It is now scheduled to depart at 1:25 p.m.
Train 353 will originate in Pontiac 48 minutes earlier at 8:50 a.m. It now departs there at 9:38 a.m.
Times at en route stations will be adjusted accordingly and Amtrak advised passengers to check for the latest arrival and departure times at those cities.
Amtrak’s westbound Empire Builder suffered a minor derailment in the station on Wednesday in Milwaukee.
An online report indicated that the derailment involved one truck of a coach behind the dining car and occurred after one of its three locomotives, No. 815, was removed from the train due to a mechanical issue.
The online report indicated that the 815 had been flagged by a dragging equipment detector at milepost 72.7 on host railroad Canadian Pacific.
No. 7 had arrived in Milwaukee at about 4:40 p.m. and did not depart until 12:35 a.m. @AmtrakAlerts had described the delay was due to a “malfunction with one of the railcars.”
The derailed car was removed from the consist and left in Milwaukee.
Early Friday morning, Amtrak reported No. 7 was operating nearly nine hours late west of Malta, Montana.
In an unrelated development, mechanical woes led to the cancellation of Wolverine Service No. 352 last Tuesday.
The train departed Chicago Union Station 80 minutes late and halted two miles away due to a mechanical breakdown.
The train was returned to the depot and canceled. Passengers were either rebooked aboard Wolverine Service No. 354 or given a refund of their fare.
The next day Wolverine Service No. 351 from Pontiac, Michigan (Detroit), to Chicago was canceled on account of no equipment being available. Normally, No. 352 turns to become No. 351 the next day.
An online report indicated a breakdown of the SC-44 Charger locomotive assigned to No. 352 caused the problems. The unit reportedly malfunctioned after the equipment arrived in the station and again after leaving.
The report indicated that mechanical issues with Charger locomotives led Amtrak to replace them with P42DC units on corridor trains operating in the Chicago-Quincy, Illinois; and Chicago-Carbondale, Illinois, corridors.
The Wolverines have had a rough week with many of them operating late. Amtrak reported Thursday night that No. 354 was operating more than five hours late east of Battle Creek, Michigan.
It left Chicago three hours late due to mechanical issues, Amtrak reported.
Earlier on Thursday, a late arrival of inbound Wolverine Service No. 350 in Pontiac resulted in a 40-minute late departure of No. 355. That delayed had reached an hour and 20 minutes by the time No. 355 reached Hammond-Whiting, Indiana.
For five decades Amtrak trains have passed Botsford Tower in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Better known as BO, the tower was razed on Dec. 28, after efforts to save and move the century-old structure failed.
The tower was built in 1914 by the Michigan Central to guard an interlocking crossing used by trains of the MC, Pennsylvania Railroad, and Grand Trunk Western.
Until closed in October 2016, BO Tower continued to control a crossing of tracks used by Amtrak, Norfolk Southern and the Grand Elk.
The tower once had a 44-lever interlocking machine. The tower structure itself was owned by the Michigan Department of Transportation, which was not opposed to preservation efforts.
However, Railfan and Railroad magazine reported on its website that the cost of moving the tower to a new location provided to be too much.
MDOT wanted the tower moved because it was too close to the tracks to remain in its current location.
In the photograph above, a westbound Wolverine Service train passes BO on July 16, 2016.
Schedules of Amtrak’s Wolverine Service between Chicago and Detroit (Pontiac) will be temporarily change between July 20 and Oct. 31 due to track work being performed by Amtrak and Norfolk Southern.
Train 350 will depart Chicago 15 minutes earlier at 7:05 a.m. and will be scheduled to arrive in Pontiac at 2:46 p.m.
Train 351 will depart Pontiac 7 minutes earlier at 5:43 a.m. and is scheduled to arrive in Chicago 15 minutes later at 10:47 a.m.
Train 354 will depart Chicago at its scheduled time of 5:50 p.m, but be rescheduled to arrive in Pontiac 15 minutes later at 1:17 a.m.
Train 355 will depart Pontiac 7 minutes earlier at 5:28 a.m and is scheduled to arrive in Chicago 15 minutes later at 10:55 p.m.
An Amtrak service advisory said Trains 352 and 353 remain suspended but are expected to resume operation on Sept. 7.
Wolverine Service during the COVID-19 pandemic fell to one pair of trains between Chicago and Pontiac. Service increased to two pairs of trains on July 19.
The Michigan Department of Transportation and Amtrak have agreed to add back an additional daily roundtrip to the Chicago-Detroit corridor that was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Chicago-Pontiac Wolverine Service train will begin operating July 19, going westbound in the morning and eastbound in the evening.
The two parties also said that effective May 25 speed limits on 45 miles of the corridor will ncrease to 110 miles per hour.
The faster speeds were authorized between Kalamazoo and Albion, Michigan, on track owned by MDOT
The higher speeds are being allowed following completion of Federal Railroad Administration certification of the signal system.
Officials said additional track infrastructure work is needed before the top speed can be increased between Albion and Dearborn in the Detroit suburbs.
The faster speeds will not reduce the scheduled travel time in the corridor but MDOT and Amtrak officials contended in a statement that improved on-time performance can be expected because the higher speeds will enable trains to make up time lost elsewhere.
This includes segments shared with freight railroads in Chicago and Northwest Indiana, and in the Detroit region.
Speeds of up to 110 mph have been in place since 2012 in the corridor on the Amtrak-owned segment between Kalamazoo and Porter, Indiana.
That segment uses an Incremental Train Control System signaling system.
That system has since been placed into operation east of Kalamazoo as an overlay to the interoperable I-ETMS positive train control system.
The schedule effective July 19 will have Wolverine Service trains 350 and 354 departing Chicago at 7:20 a.m. and 5:50 p.m., respectively.
Westbound trains 351 and 355 will depart Pontiac at 5:43 a.m. and 5:35 p.m., respectively.
The new schedule will restore connections from western long-distance trains to Michigan points that were lost during the pandemic.
Currently, the lone Wolverine Service on the corridor departs Pontiac at 5:43 a.m. and arrives in Chicago in late morning.
The return trip, though leaves Chicago at 1:25 p.m., which is too late to make connections from inbound Western long distance trains.
An MDOT official said the agency will consider adding back the third roundtrip to the corridor “as travel demands increase and COVID-19 vaccination rates rise in Michigan.”
Before the pandemic, trains departed Pontiac in early morning, mid morning and late afternoon. Trains departed Chicago in early morning, early afternoon and early evening.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said this week that it has conveyed to Amtrak $1.69 billion in economic stimulus funds authorized by the American Rescue Act of 2021.
The funding includes $728.6 million for Amtrak’s long distance and regional trains outside the Northeast Corridor.
Amtrak was directed by Congress to allocate $174 million of that total to offset what the carrier charges states for corridor services.
However, the law does not require states to restore their Amtrak corridor services to pre-pandemic levels.
Most states reduced their corridor services during the COVID-19 pandemic due to a plunge in ridership.
Several states have begun restoring suspended services but others have yet to announce their plans.
Among the routes yet to be fully restored is the Wolverine Service between Chicago and Detroit (Pontiac).
The route had three roundtrips pre-pandemic, but since March 2020 the level of service has been a single daily roundtrip.
Some Illinois and Missouri routes also continued to operate below pre-pandemic levels.
The directive also mandated that Amtrak return long-distance service to daily operation if they operated as such before last year.
Amtrak has said daily operation will be phased in over a three-weekly period beginning May 24.
The Northeast Corridor will receive $969.4 million of which $109.8 million will go to states and commuter railroads to cover their share of capital costs Amtrak charges them for using the Northeast Corridor.
Another $100.8 million will be used for debt relief that Amtrak incurred before the legislation was adopted on March 11.
Train 350 will depart Chicago 15 minutes earlier at 7:05 a.m. and will be scheduled to arrive in Pontiac at 2:46 p.m.
The funding includes $728.6 million for Amtrak’s long distance and regional trains outside the Northeast Corridor.
Amtrak in the Heartland 