"World" Records

I see that 7(10/26/2014) is running 17 hours late. I was wondering if that was getting close to being an Amtrak record. Not even close! According to Amtrak Status Maps Archive Database (which only goes back to 2006) the winner is #1 originating on 02/06/2012. It arrived at LAX 35 hours and 27 minutes late.

jb

ps That would also be the greatest time loser as well, since it departed NOL on time.

Lateness is something that Amtrak passengers have to live with. On LD routes where they do not own the track they are at the mercy of the freight railroads. The EB is in a totally separate problem. It frequently arrives in CHI late, missing all connections. In is common to arrive in the middle of the night. The schedule on this line is a mess and it seems that no solution is in sight. Crew change frequency, extra food, additional fuel, & overnight lodging are just a few of the extra expenses that Amtrak is incurring with the long delays on this line where 250 oil trains, each a mile long, run the route each week. This has probably turned the route into a big money loser for Amtrak. Until we get an administration in Washington that supports a new transcontinental pipeline, the situation will have no remedy and ridership will continue to decline.

One of the EB's current problems is that it now goes through Glacier National Park - the scenic highlight of the trip - when it's dark out. The nearby stations in Montana (especially Whitefish) are all extremely popular. If Amtrak can't get the EB to revert to its "old" schedule (where you could see the park in full daylight and arrive at Glacier early in the evening) I think many passengers to Glacier would probably prefer to arrive the next morning, rather than in the middle of the night. Personally, with the way the schedule is now, I'd much rather be on an EB that's 12 hours late than on time.

One suggestion I heard was to have the Builder depart on a schedule along the lines of the Western Star "back in the day": Depart Chicago in the evening, arrive MSP in the morning, and proceed accordingly. That would probably push Glacier back to the morning, with the only downside being a probable evening arrival in Seattle and Portland (with an overnight stay being needed to connect there). This would incidentally allow better connecting in Chicago.

Eastbound, you'd arrive in Chicago in the morning (allowing all day for a connection to the Card, Cap, and LSL), evening departure from MSP...and so forth.

Edit: On the longest delay, I've heard that there were some spectacular delays when the Sunset ran all the way to FL that put the 36 hour one to shame. My understanding is that at least one ended up somewhere in the 2-3 day late range during the SP/UP merger meltdown.

I believe you are correct. Part of the reason it was cut back from Miami to Orlando was there were no Superliner sets available in Miami with the delays - and this was with the 3X a week runs!

There were two other logistical reasons:

1. Ridership south of Orlando was not exactly spectacular or even sustainable apparently.

2. Terminating in Orlando the consist could be serviced at a Superliner experienced facility in Sanford (thus sharing cost with the Auto Train), instead of trying to do so at a facility with zero Superliner experience or expertise in Hialeah getting saddled with the total cost of the Superliner servicing facility there.

John Bobinyec said:

I see that 7(10/26/2014) is running 17 hours late. I was wondering if that was getting close to being an Amtrak record. Not even close! According to Amtrak Status Maps Archive Database (which only goes back to 2006) the winner is #1 originating on 02/06/2012. It arrived at LAX 35 hours and 27 minutes late.

jb

ps That would also be the greatest time loser as well, since it departed NOL on time.

Click to expand...

Wow, and in the case of that train, it was only 3 minutes late before it left 33 HOURS late!