Weather Problems Wreaking Havoc on Amtrak

We know how summer storms can really mess up the airline schedule, but all that water falling out of the sky can also cause problems for ground transportation such as Amtrak:

Disruption caused by Midwest flooding has inundated Amtrak with delays and extra expense this summer while dampening the spirits of passengers traveling popular routes, forcing them in some cases to hop off the train and onto chartered buses.

Amtrak's Empire Builder, its most popular cross-country route, normally takes travelers from Chicago through the Rocky Mountains before heading to the Northwest. But for several weeks, westbound riders have gone no further than St. Paul, Minn.

Riders on the California Zephyr fare better, but eastbound riders stopping at Omaha on the San Francisco-to-Chicago line must hop off in Lincoln and ride a bus for an hour.

"These are the worst weeks of disruption I've seen in my 10 years at Amtrak," said Marc Magliari, a Chicago-based regional spokesman. "It's the longest I can recall routes ever having this kind of service interruption. I've seen flooding, but never for this long."

Some good news arrived Thursday: The full eastbound Empire Builder route will re-open Sunday, after more than a month of service suspensions. Westbound trains will leave Chicago for Portland and Washington starting Monday.

But passenger losses have still eaten into an otherwise strong year.

June ridership on the Empire Builder was down to 23,721 passengers, a 53 percent drop compared to ridership in June 2010, Amtrak statistics show. California Zephyr ridership from Chicago to San Francisco fell more than 19 percent last month, to 30,450. Overall ridership on Amtrak's long-distance lines grew more than 4 percent in the same period.

Having followed the terrible flooding problems in Minot, ND a few weeks ago it was obvious Amtrak was not going to be able to go through that part of the state. Looks like they've finally got the roadbeds dried out enough to start up again.

One of these days I want to ride both those routes. They pass through some of the most scenic parts of the U.S. The California Zephyr passes through both the Sierras and the Rockies, while the Empire Builder goes through Glacier National Park and the northern Rockies. They time the trains to make sure you're in the most scenic areas during daylight hours, so for rail fans it's a must-ride.