HOUSTON — According to the Houston Chronicle, more than 300 passengers on an Amtrak train that crashed into an 18-wheeler in Louisiana late Friday pulled into Houston on Saturday. They were tired, hot, hungry and testy.
Their moods didn’t improve when they found only two soon-to-be overwhelmed Amtrak employees waiting for them at the train station on Washington Avenue near downtown.
“You have no idea how frustrating this `wonderful trip’ has been for us,” said Shirley Boon, who was on her way from Orlando, Fla., to Fresno, Calif., when the train she was on hit an 18-wheeler hauling metal pipes that stalled on some tracks in Iberia Parish at about 4:30 p.m. Friday.
Louisiana State Police Lt. Darrel Gros said only one minor injury was reported at the scene, and he confirmed the train was delayed for several hours while law enforcement officers and environmental experts dealt with the wreckage and some diesel fuel that spilled from the train’s engine and the truck.
That delay, according to several passengers who were waiting to see what kind of arrangements Amtrak was making to get them to their destinations, was not pleasant.
Most of the passengers, they said, were herded off the train and kept in a nearby yard. After fighting off some pretty big Cajun mosquitoes for a few hours, they were allowed to board again at about 11:30 p.m.
But, some said, there was no electricity, no air conditioning and the only food and water came from a local Red Cross chapter.
“We were literally cooking on that train,” said Connie Bradshaw, who was traveling from Maryland to Las Vegas with a group of about 84 people.
Amtrak employees on the train tried to make the passengers comfortable, Boon and Bradshaw said. But, they also wouldn’t provide much information about what was happening or when the train would get moving again.
Attempts to reach a company spokesman for Amtrak were unsuccessful Saturday.
Joyce Wood, a pregnant woman going from Florida to California with her fiance, said she even saw some employees with pizza and fast food that they refused to share with passengers.
All the passengers had were sandwiches, Wood said.
The train started moving again slowly at about 3 a.m., according to passengers and Louisiana state troopers. But, it only moved a few miles so it could be connected to a new engine. It didn’t really leave for Texas until later in the morning and didn’t arrive in Houston until after 3 p.m.
By then, the passengers said, they got a complimentary breakfast and were assured there would be plenty of help for them in Houston.
The help consisted of ticket clerk Dave Garland and one other employee.
Amtrak keeps only two workers in its Houston station, and in the past the company has reduced staff there as part of a nationwide effort to soften years of losses.
Many passengers said Garland and the other employee were doing the best they could as they alternated between pulling luggage off the train and trying to make travel arrangements for the passengers.
“Everyone is just a little shook up,” said Gwendloyn Thomas, traveling from Washington, D.C., to Las Vegas. “But, everyone is OK and it will all be fine.”
But, not everyone was as understanding.
“It’s sad. You can’t even get a little bit of information,” said Jake Rael, who was going from Florida to California. “I went up to talk to the employees when I got here and they were belligerent.”
Boon said she and other passengers, who called the train company on their cell phones during the delay, believe Amtrak dropped the ball by not having a better plan in place to take care of their needs.
“There was just no recovery plan in place at all,” she said. “There could have been dead bodies on that train and there was nothing waiting for us here.”
Garland could only respond that there are only two Amtrak employees at the station here. And, when asked why his employer didn’t send them some help, he said: “Don’t get me started.”