(The following story by Kevin Giles appeared on the Minneapolis Star Tribune website on January 11, 2010.)
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Amtrak train service in Minnesota will resume Monday afternoon after being suspended for four days because of bitter cold temperatures.
The westbound Empire Builder will leave Chicago at 2:15 p.m. as scheduled and eastbound trains will leave Seattle and Portland, Ore., in late afternoon as scheduled, said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari.
Concern for safety, including a danger of disabled brakes, led to the decision to suspend service, he said.
“It’s mighty cold and these trains have running water,” he said. “It’s not sanitary and it’s not safe to run trains in these conditions.”
Cars on Amtrak trains are 20 years old, he said.
More than 130 train travelers were delayed in St. Paul on Thursday and were offered two nights of meal vouchers and lodging in the Twin Cities, Magliari said.
The Empire Builder, which makes six stops in Minnesota, carried more than half a million passengers last year. The train remains one of Amtrak’s most popular overnight routes.
Amtrak announced in October that it had posted its second-best nationwide ridership since the service began in 1971. About 27 million passengers rode Amtrak trains in 2009, producing ticket revenue of $1.6 billion.