Amtrak has suspended service between PHL and HAR (downed trees)

[AmtrakBlue]

LINK

Heard about this earlier today.

PHILADELPHIA - February 5, 2014 (WPVI) -- Amtrak has suspended service between Philadelphia and Harrisburg for the remainder of the day due to Wednesday morning's ice storm.

Officials say at least 45 downed trees in multiple locations and other weather related issues have caused problems with their overhead electrical system. Amtrak said crews have been called in to clear the debris and make any needed repairs.

At this time there is no estimate for when the tracks will re-open, Amtrak said.

 

[Ryan]

Unsurprising, given the conditions. Heavy, wet snow from earlier still hanging around with a coat of ice on top, trees are dropping left and right. Hopefully they can get things cleaned up safely and quickly.

 

[Acela150]

Betty what did you do??

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Betty what did you do??

I'm not telling!

 

[Acela150]

The one thing that the Harrisburg line still has is the original PRR Caternary struts. Holding the lines together. I can't remember where they are visible most. But between PAO-PHL. The line still hold the original caternary posts from when the electric faction took place. It's cool to see!

 

[AlanB]

My sister who lives in the Allentown area said that Lancaster and Chester counties in PA got hit the hardest with icing. And the Keystone line runs through Lancaster and I believe a bit of Chester. So it is hardly surprising.

 

[PRR 60]

My sister who lives in the Allentown area said that Lancaster and Chester counties in PA got hit the hardest with icing. And the Keystone line runs through Lancaster and I believe a bit of Chester. So it is hardly surprising.

All the Keystone stops from Paoli to Parkesburg are in Chester County, and Chester County got clobbered. About 85% of the electric customers in Chester County lost power, and most are still out tonight. For PECO (the electric utility in SE PA), this was the second worst storm from a customer outage standpoint in history. So glad I'm retired!

 

[Ryan]

I was talking to my Dad earlier tonight (he retired this summer after 41 years at PEPCO - half pulling and splicing cables in the underground and the second half in the control center running the system). They're still in Hawaii for another 2 weeks, and when I told him how fouled up things are he had the exact same reaction!

 

[AmtrakBlue]

My sisters have a small farm in Oxford, PA - southern Chester county and are without electric. They had to buy a new generator because their old one died due to lack of use (she said it was a pain to try to run it every so often to keep it "fresh"). They couldn't hook the new one to the trailer though because of the plug so they're running extensions from it for space heaters.

 

[Trarveler]

My sister who lives in the Allentown area said that Lancaster and Chester counties in PA got hit the hardest with icing. And the Keystone line runs through Lancaster and I believe a bit of Chester. So it is hardly surprising.

In the Allentown area, it warmed up in the afternoon, and the ice melted. In contrast, I was just in the Hershey area near Harrisburg today (a day after the storm), and the trees there, still are covered with a coat of ice. And there are lots of broken branches all over the sides of the road.

 

[benjibear]

In York County, we had 1/2 inch of ice on top of the the 6-7" of very heavy wet snow on Monday. Harrisburg started with snow and then turned to ice so they were better off. The entire southern part of the state was hard hit.

 

[Barciur]

I feel lucky living in downtown Lancaster - no issues for me, but I know sourrounding areas got hit. I work in one of the public elementary schools and the teacher I work with comes from Exton - still no power there. Keystone is also still suspended of course and they are supposed to issue an update later tonight.

 

[AlanB]

Keystone is also still suspended of course and they are supposed to issue an update later tonight.

And Amtrak's NEC Twitter feed just did exactly that at 11:02, stating:

Keystone Service btwn PHL/HAR will be restored tomorrow 2/7/14. Delays up to 30 mins may occur as signal repair work continues.

 

[fairviewroad]

Looks like the first couple of trains this morning got hit with 30+ minute delays but by 8 AM most everything was running very close to schedule.

 

[Acela150]

Montgomery County was hit hard. That's what I call home when I'm not in Massachusetts. Most of the county lost power and my parents are still without power. It was all ice there.