P
pshunt
Guest
We were on the Westbound Zephyr from Chicago to Emeryville, on the train in question, and thought most passengers and staff handled the situation well. We had been warned via blogs and Trip Advisor that the train was often late and so we expected some delay, though not a whole day! We loved the drama of it all, although we felt sorry for those riding in coach, who must have been exhausted. Amtrak served complimentary dinner and breakfast to them on our last (and unexpected) twenty-two hours on board. Since most of our delays were caused by Mother Nature and passenger emergencies, I don't know who the few angry passengers threatening lawsuits thought they were going to sue. The only totally preventable delay from our point of view was Union Pacific, owner of the rails in Utah, who forced our train to stop in place (between stations) and wait while they sent their people out to talk to the Amtrak engineer who had exceeded the speed limit at some point. They subsequently did not accept the reason given by the engineer (who later turned out to be in the right) and required Amtrak to send a new engineer out to where the train was stopped. As you might imagine, this all took many hours. Good luck with a lawsuit against Union Pacific!
