Amtrak Passengers Stuck on Board For 29+ Hours Following Collision on Tracks Called 911 Claiming They Were Being Held Hostage
Passengers touring from Virginia to Orlando had been caught on board an Amtrak practice for greater than 29 hours earlier this week.
In keeping with ABC Information, the practice was scheduled to depart from Virginia at 5 p.m. on Monday and arrive in Florida on Tuesday round 10 a.m., however a collision between a CSX freight practice and one other automobile on the tracks through the South Carolina portion of its journey pressured the practice to divert.
Passengers needed to sit and wait in South Carolina whereas a licensed backup crew arrived. It was additionally reported that the practice workers had been solely allowed restricted hours to work on account of security rules.
Sam Sweeney of ABC Information tweeted late Tuesday night time that passengers had been “stuck on board for 29+ hours.” It was reported by native ABC affiliate WPDE that the practice began shifting once more simply earlier than 10 p.m.
It appeared that some passengers who had been delayed for hours started calling the police after rising impatient with Amtrak.
In a video Sweeney shared on Twitter, a practice conductor may be heard saying: “For those of you calling the police, we are not holding you hostage. We are giving you all the information which we have. We are sorry about the inconvenience. As soon as more information is available, we will let you know shortly.”
Amtrak launched an announcement later within the day: “Tuesday’s southbound Amtrak Auto Train has been impacted by significant delays due to a CSX freight derailment in South Carolina. The train was detoured off its normal route to continue operating south and is currently stopped in Denmark, S.C., while it waits for a new crew to arrive. Customers have been provided meals, snack packs, and beverages. A new crew travels to Denmark to board the train and work onboard when service resumes. A new crew is necessary because the hours of service for the previous crew expired.”
It’s unknown how many individuals had been on board.