(The Richmond Times-Dispatch posted the following article by Chip Jones on its website on February 19.)
RICHMOND, Va. — Amtrak has been stopped in its tracks in Richmond for the past two days and won’t send off its first train until later today, railroad officials said.
The lingering lull, which stopped Amtrak service across Virginia, stems from operating delays by the company that owns the railroad tracks, Richmond-based CSX Corp.
“We’re not yet back and up to speed,” CSX spokesman Dan Murphy said yesterday.
Murphy said the weekend snow and ice storm caused problems in getting key crews into place.
CSX began running some freight trains yesterday, setting the stage for a gradual resumption of Amtrak service.
The only exception was Amtrak’s Auto Train from Lorton to Florida, which CSX allowed through Virginia yesterday.
In Richmond, Amtrak made plans to restart service later today.
The first train out will leave at 6:50 p.m. for Washington, district manager Michael Jerew said.
But the service disruption will continue Thursday morning, as the first train to Washington — the 6:05 a.m. Train 84 — has been canceled. The first northbound train Thursday departs at 8:25 a.m.
Some Amtrak service will resume in Charlottesville by morning and in Newport News later today.
The railroad’s woes continued even as Greyhound Bus Lines resumed its schedule in Richmond early yesterday, sending 400 stranded passengers on their way.
Richmond International Airport also returned to normal operation, with some lingering problems with flights to and from snowbound New York.
Amtrak continued to run its high-speed Acela trains between Washington and Boston. The federally subsidized railroad maintains its own tracks in the Northeast corridor.
“We’ve been open the whole time,” said Amtrak spokesman Dan Stessel.
Richmond is a major link in Amtrak’s north-south service, serving more than 239,000 passengers a year.
Stessel could not put a price tag on the economic losses to Amtrak because of this week’s Richmond shutdown.
The problems were reminiscent of last summer’s weather-related problems on CSX — when the railroad blamed the intense and lingering heat for problems on its tracks.
CSX ordered slowdowns of Amtrak trains after the late July derailment of a passenger train in Maryland that injured 101 people.