Passengers on a US train from Virginia to Florida were delayed for 20 hours, finally arriving at their destination after a 37-hour journey.
It was a (very) long journey for these American travelers. In the US, passengers on board a train from Virginia to Florida were delayed for almost 20 hours, some of them even believed to be a hostage situation, reports ABC News. Their train, which left late on Monday afternoon, was supposed to arrive at its destination on Tuesday morning: it finally did not arrive until Wednesday morning, ending a grueling 37-hour journey. This “auto-train”, a specialized train which also carries passenger vehicles, carried 563 people.
This trip has experienced very significant delays due to the derailment of another freight train in South Carolina, which forced it to be diverted from its normal route so that it can continue to travel to Florida, explained the spokeswoman for Amtrak, the U.S. public railway company. , cited by washington post. In addition, on Tuesday afternoon, the train was held for a long time at a small station, awaiting the arrival of a new on-board team capable of operating this type of train, the original team having exceeded its working hours.
Without power or food
On board the train, the wait was long for the passengers, who spent 29 hours in the carriages (this night train normally stops only once along the route). The situation is “very poorly managed” and “could become potentially dangerous as many passengers are elderly and the train is running out of food,” complained one passenger, addressing Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a tweet. Amtrak, for its part, claims to have provided snacks and drinks.
Locked in the train, the passengers were not allowed to leave the carriages. Passengers ended up calling 911 (the US emergency number) to alert the police, citing a “hostage situation”. More videos obtained by ABC News actually show the driver addressing passengers and asking them not to call 911 again. Amtrak is regularly singled out for its frequent delays.