Worst train delay I ever had was 6 hours outside Nashville last spring

I was heading back home from a job in Chattanooga and we got stopped near some tiny town called Wartrace. A freight train had derailed up ahead and they told us it would be 45 minutes. Three hours later we were still sitting in the same spot with no power because the AC units kept tripping the backup generator. A woman in the next car had her two little kids crying from the heat and a guy started passing out granola bars he had in his bag. When we finally started moving again the conductor came on and just said "my apologies" with zero explanation. Has anyone else been stuck on a train that long without any real updates?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly_roberts15d ago

Gotta respectfully push back on this one. I had a 10 hour delay on Amtrak between Orlando and Jacksonville a couple years back and the crew was giving us updates every 20-30 minutes about a trespasser on the tracks. Yeah it was hot and cramped but knowing what was going on made a huge difference. Sounds like your conductor just totally dropped the ball with communication. Is there maybe a way to file a complaint with the rail company about that specific trip?

fox.skyler15d ago

Hearing you say "knowing what was going on made a huge difference" really hit me. My buddy Mark took the Silver Meteor from Tampa to DC last year and his train got stuck for like six hours near Savannah because of some signal problems. He said the conductor came on the speaker maybe once every two hours with basically the same "we're working on it" message and that was it. He sat there watching people get really frustrated and stressed because nobody knew if they should book hotels or what was happening. I feel like that's the difference between your experience and his, the crew actually talking to people. Filing a complaint with Amtrak's customer relations online got him a small travel voucher but honestly the process took months.