5/31 Texas Eagle (#422) CANCELED

Well, here we go again...our three day trip from LA (5/31) to CHI (6/3) on the Eagle has been canceled with barely 24 hours notice. "Due to a service disruption"...baloney. I've been monitoring the TE eastbound the last several days, and have seen minimal delays despite all the crap in the midwest. My suspicion is they are moving around equipment to handle other service disruptions at the expense of TE customers.

Sad to say, but I'm finished with Amtrak. We had recommended it to many people; NO MORE. I understand acts of nature, but this is ridiculous.

 

They are offering an alternate route from FTW to OKC, bus to NEW and take the SWC to CHI if you’re willing to do that. They are also willing to re-accommodate on a different day.

There is severe flooding going on is much of the midwest, I sure hope you’ll give that some consideration when making your no more decision.

 

The last time I checked, the NOR-NEW bus is a standard schedule Greyhound, and a night bus at that. El Paso City for me on that routing!

 

Sorry...this has been an incredible disappointment for my wife and me. And it's not just the issues of flooding; we understand that. It's the poor way Amtrak has handled its customers. They knew darn good and well what was going to happen way before they notified us. We went through busing from KC to the middle of nowhere Kansas last week (between midnight and 4 am) getting out here on the SWC, and, once again, they knew early in the day what their plans were when they announced there would be no luggage check-in at Chicago (hours before we boarded). We didn't find out about the busing until we were on the train and well on our way. Amtrak is in the rearview mirror for us from now on...

 

Their has been severe weather along that route all week.,

 

This routing really sucks! I did it once and No Mas!

 

I was due to go back home (get off in Mineola) on the 5th. And this morning, across my Twitter feed (not even the courtesy of an e-mail, at least yet), the news that my train has been cancelled, no alternatives.

I'm waiting on hold with Amtrak right now. the only good news in this is I'm not teaching this summer so I can just extend my trip, but if I HAD to be home, I guess I'd be flying into DFW and begging the one person I know who lives down that way to drive me to Mineola to get my car - or paying through the nose for a taxi/Uber, if they'd even take me that far.

I don't blame Amtrak, this has been truly horrific weather in the midwest...

 

Again...the only thing I blame Amtrak for is very poor customer service including — 1) Withholding information from customers 2) Inadequate staffing of both phone lines AND locations where passengers transferred to buses 3) Failure to anticipate the domino effects of poor weather that was forecast days in advance. As I have previously mentioned, I know weather can be unpredictable. But with the advanced technology we have at our hands, it is mind boggling to me that Amtrak could not have known and planned much better.

 

But even when Amtrak DOES make advance changes (cancellations) based on days-in-advance forecasts, it is slammed for that. I am thinking of snow and blizzards in the winter months of course - oh, and hurricanes.

I totally understand and empathize that this is a total bummer from your Personal Perspective. Amtrak altered the schedule for the Palmetto for next week which I am on. I did get an email and a phone call of the fact 7 and 5 days in advance but no explanation. I'm just grateful it didn't get cancelled!

Just out of curiosity what would you have them do other than notify you earlier of the cancellation that you would regard as more skillful and less upsetting to your plans.

 

Be advised that changing tickets now is a long, long wait on the phone. Though I will say I got lucky when I finally got through to an agent, the person who helped me (first name Conrad) was pleasant and knowledgeable and he managed to get me a ticket back for the 12th, by which time this will hopefully all be done with. I'm lucky in that I had nowhere I particularly HAD to be before then, but yeah.

I will say it would have been helpful to have had an e-mail heads up FIRST, before they stuck it up on Twitter; I don't check Twitter as frequently as I do my e-mail. It was just fortunate I checked this morning.

 

The few times I've ridden the Thruway service linking OKC and NEW (via Wichita), it was not a Greyhound scheduled route, but a dedicated Amtrak service. It is indeed overnight and uses standard coaches, but only carried Amtrak passengers.

 

I called AGR and was promptly helped with work around to an alternate destination on CONO and one of my kids will pick us up. They exchanged my Bedroom to the CONO and gave refund for the difference. Wife & I will have Room A but can live with the corner thing to get back. Was advised by AGR to see Customer Relations promptly when arriving in Chicago for other help. Thank You Britanny at AGR and her supervisor for the courteous help.

 

Maybe I missed, but why is the TE annulled? What bridge or trackage is flooded? Or does Amtrak know UP and BNSF are sending every transcon south through Texas and is mercifully sparing pax from sitting 8 hours in a siding.

 

According to Amtrak's website, it's because of a stack-up of freight traffic detoured from elsewhere. Though given how close the TE's usual run is to the Mississippi at some points I'd not be too surprised if pax safety was also a concern.

Edited to add: I didn't realize this was the case at first, and I just knee-jerked and remade my reservations for a good bit later, thinking it was because of actual flooding. I'm guessing now once the freights clear, if nothing gets much worse....maybe the TE will pick back up on Thursday as they said. (I was assuming "it'll restart Thursday but be a bustitution") Either I didn't read carefully or they changed the alert from the time I first saw it.

 

UP made their intentions known a few days ago. They also cancelled the Missouri River Runner when this whammy came out:

I'm sure you can imagine who was at the bottom of that priority list.

https://www.up.com/aboutup/community/inside_track/2019-flood-recovery-6-28-19.htm

 

These weather conditions were for The most part Tornado type storms. Highly unpredictable as to where and what.

 

https://twitter.com/AmtrakAlerts/status/1134306129725382656?s=20

 

UPDATE: Upon arriving Union Station Chicago I stored our luggage at Metropolitan and went immediately to Amtrak ticketing next door and was informed Bedroom C on CONO now available at 8:05p to Jackson, MS which meant I now could leave in a few hours instead of two night wait in Chicago for a Bedroom. Just enough time for wife and I to have a wonderful meal at Giordanos before departing. CONO arrived in Jackson and another great meal at the Iron Horse Grill waiting for our son to pick us up.
My Amtrak trip ended at Jackson but other southbound Amtrak passengers continued on waiting buses. These were very nice travel coaches shown in pic. Staff at Jackson while overwhelmed for awhile were efficient and accomodating and after bus passengers loaded, one even walked part of the way to Iron Horse Grill to show us how to avoid what she called an unsafe area.
Yeah it was inconventient and an interruption to have my plans changed in midtrip and arrive east of my original Texas Eagle destination but I have little complaint with Amtrak's response for my situation and very thankful to AGR. Anyroads, hard to feel sorry for myself after seeing what others going through with the flooding and damage that occurred from this situation.

 

Today's TEs between SAT and FTW are showing service disruption. I thought a consist had made it through to Texas a couple of days ago.

 

In case this clustermuck continues for more than a week:

is there any way, short of a ruinously-expensive Uber ride (or calling someone you know to drive you) to get from one of the Dallas airports to Mineola, Texas? I don't WANT to fly back but maybe I'm going to be STUCK flying back.

(I don't even think a one-way car rental would work; Mineola is pretty small). My car is in Mineola and I would need to be able to get it.

 

You could use the DART Orange Line and Greyhound to reach Tyler from DFW, but would still need Uber/Lyft or a taxi from Tyler to Mineola.

 

# 21and #22 are running ( Turning) between FTW and SAS Daily as well as between CHI and STL, with No Alternate Transportation between STL and FTW till at least June 7th.

The Flooding and Freight Congeston is still bad in the Midwest with more to come!

 

When? I might be able to take you.

 

At this point, i don't even know. If the TE is still cancelled, as in NO alternate transportation, I don't know, because it would take scheduling a flight and everything.

Part of me is ready to just throw up my hands and go 'fine, so my hold mail request hits the 30 day mark and they start throwing out my mail, and my houseplants use up the water in the automatic waterers and just die, and I stay here until I can get home" (For other reasons this trip has been kind of a nightmare.)

thanks for the offer though

 

If it is on a weekday afternoon/evening, I would be glad to do it.
Many years ago, a member here was kind enough to pick me up from the airport in Las Vegas, take me around town, to my hotel, and also return me to my transportation to leave Vegas a few days later.
I consider it paying it forward.