Thelife
AP
An Amtrak Acela train passes through snow.
- An Amtrak Acela Express train was stuck in Queens, New York for six hours on Sunday because of damage to overhead power lines.
- Power was shut off to the train, causing toilets to fill up while on-board temperatures - and tempers - climbed. The train eventually arrived safely in Boston six hours and 44 minutes after it was scheduled.
- Another train, bound for New York, separated in two while underway on the day before Thanksgiving.
Amtrak's high-speed service, the Acela Express, wasn't so express for passengers stuck between New York and Boston on Sunday during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
Train 2230, which operated on schedule from Washington D.C. to New York, departed Penn Station for the northerly half of its journey on time at 9:40 am. But shortly after crossing under the East River into Queens, damage to the overhead power line forced a more than six hour delay that led to the closing of bathrooms and the loss of air conditioning aboard the sweltering train.
Passengers, which sat for hours waiting on maintenance crews, took to Twitter to air their frustrations.
"We are now into our 6th hour on the train," one passenger said. "Bathrooms have become filled to the brim due to lack of power to flush. Doors are closed which means in theory we should be leaving soon."
While toilets filled and temperatures rose, another passenger said smoke from overheated brakes started pouring into the car.
"We were TRAPPED on the train for FIVE HOURS with ZERO functioning bathrooms," another said. "This is completely unacceptable.
The train and its 299 passengers finally arrived in Boston at 8:19 pm - six hours and 44 minutes after its scheduled arrival time of 1:35 p.m. An Amtrak spokesperson told Business Insider that there were no injuries, and "customers were accommodated with food and non-alcoholic beverages."
This wasn't Amtrak's only holiday weekend equipment failure and delay, either.
On Wednesday night, two cars on train 68 from Albany to New York separated while underway in what Amtrak called a "rare incident."
Services into and out of New York are among Amtrak's only profitable routes. Last week, the government-owned company reported record revenue and earnings, despite falling ridership numbers. While the busy Northeast Corridor from Washington D.C. to Boston only declined about 0.1%, long-distance routes have seen ridership fall nearly 4% thanks to delays and infrastructure issues.
"We are having conversations with customers and offering appropriate compensation," Amtrak said of the Acela delay.