(The following appeared at 13News.com on February 15, 2010.)
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — An Amtrak spokeswoman says refunds will be offered to all passengers aboard train No. 99 Saturday night and Sunday morning, which arrived in Newport News nine and a half hours behind schedule.
Initially, Amtrak said the refunds would be offered on a case-by-case basis.
Amtrak will attempt to call all passengers on the train, or passengers can call 800-USA-RAIL, spokeswoman Karina Romero said.
The Washington, DC, to Newport News trip usually takes about four hours, but the weekend trip took three times that long.
Along the route, broken lights, broken trains and clogged tracks slowed progress and then, the train just stopped. An Amtrak spokeswoman says much of the delay was caused when train No. 99 tried to link up with another disabled train around Quantico.
The train stopped around 4 a.m. just a few miles from the Williamsburg station.
“Everyone’s getting frustrated. There was no running water, the snack bar shut down out of food, people were taking free snacks in handfuls and going back to their seats,” sid Ryan Wilkins, who ‘d taken his father and son to DC for the weekend.
Amtrak says federal law prohibited the train’s crew from making it to Williamsburg because it had reached its maximum hours per shift. A relief conductor did not take over until 5:40 a.m., according to passengers.
The train finally made it to Newport News around 6:30 a.m. on Sunday.
In March 2009, a train was delayed for 16 hours and passengers were stuck, too because of snow, ice and a derailed CSX train.