Oxygen Canisters

[Allen Dee]

Here is a quote from Amtrak's website concerning the transportation of passengers with oxygen canisters:

"Oxygen Equipment

To better serve you, and to ensure the safety of all passengers, we provide the following guidelines for transporting oxygen on board Amtrak trains.

Notice and Advanced Reservations Required: You must give notice of your need to bring oxygen aboard and make reservations in advance. Please call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245).

We require at least 12 hours' notice in advance of your train's boarding time of your need to bring oxygen aboard.

Medical Necessity Required: Oxygen transport is prohibited on trains except by those passengers who for medical reasons require the use of supplemental oxygen.

Equipment Requirements: Portable oxygen containers must meet the following requirements:

Power Source: Oxygen equipment cannot rely solely on train-provided electrical power.

UL or FM Listed: Oxygen equipment must be Underwriter's Laboratory (UL) or Factory Mutual (FM) listed.

Weight Limits: Each tank and its associated equipment may weigh no more than 75 lbs (34 kgs) per unit.

Configuration: We permit only one of the following:

A two-tank system (maximum of 75 lbs [34 kgs] per tank), or

A six-tank system (maximum of 20 lbs [9 kgs] per tank), but only if the tanks can be separated and handled individually."

What this quote does not state is how many such passengers can be transported on ONE train or car.

I am posting this in response to the deadly fire and explosions that occurred recently on the bus in Texas that was used to evacuate several nursing home patients.

I appreciate your responses.

 

[AlanB]

I don't know if there is a limit, but I suspect that it's not all that common either to find people traveling with oxygen on Amtrak. I've covered over 50,000 miles on Amtrak and only twice have I ever seen someone traveling with oxygen and they were years apart.

But even if two people did manage to land on the same train, other than if they were booked into the same sleeper with the rest sold out, it should be an easy thing to seperate them into two different coaches.

 

[jccollins]

As AlanB said, Amtrak does not have a hard and fast rule on this (as they do not with quite a few things). It is really up to the conductor's discretion. I have traveled on the Starlight with my grandpa who needs oxygen and the number of cannisters or equipment he brought along was never an issue. It is quite unlikely that more than two or three people would ever end up on the same train with oxygen anyway, although I do see your concern if a train was used for evacuees of something like a nursing home where a lot of people would be traveling with it.