Colossal Delay Leaves Amtrak Riders Stuck Near Warrensburg Overnight

The 90 passengers or so on board Amtrak's Missouri River Runner / Lincoln Service train 319 from Chicago's Union Station to Lee's Summit and the train's final destination, Kansas City's Union Station, wound up stuck on the train overnight due to a freight train blocking it's path.

Multiple media reports, including one from KSHB 41, indicate that Amtrak's Missouri River Runner had just left Warrensburg three hours and three minutes late at 10:17 PM, according to Amtrak's website, when it stopped in Centerview. The problem? A freight train was blocking its path. Amtrak officials communicated that a freight train had experienced mechanical issues, which was the cause of the delay.

KCTV 5 reports that Amtrak's statement to passengers indicated the railroad would try to bus passengers to Lee's Summit and Kansas City.

“Train 319 is stopped south of Warrensburg (WAR) due to a freight train interference blocking the tracks ahead. A delay of up to 2 hours is anticipated. We are attempting to source buses to transport you to your destination. We sincerely apologize and thank you for your continued patience.”

Unfortunately, Amtrak couldn't find the buses, so those travelers remained on the train and stuck in Centerview until the freight train issues were resolved. Amtrak 319 started making its way to Lee's Summit and Kansas City around 6:30 AM CDT Monday. It ultimately arrived in Kansas City ten hours and fifty-two minutes after its 8:51 PM Scheduled arrival.

I'm a big believer in Amtrak, and providing rail service throughout the country is important. More specifically, I believe The Missouri River Runner / Lincoln Service trains between Kansas City, St. Louis, and Chicago is an excellent well-traveled route. While traveling all the way is quite a haul and not as quick as driving, it's still a good alternative to flying. Not to mention, the train has many riders that get on and off from intermediate station stops, which you can't do if you fly.

However, a couple of things reported in this story give me pause. First, I'm surprised Amtrak couldn't find buses out of Kansas City. Granted, it was late on a Sunday night when this happened. Not to mention, Kansas City isn't necessarily a 24-hour city. However, finding three buses for 90 people doesn't seem like it should be impossible. You'd think the railroad would have a standing agreement with a bus company in KC to handle any issues. In fact, within 90 minutes of a major city, Amtrak should be able to find buses at any hour.

Second was a comment from a stranded passenger that made the KSHB article:

"But what's really frustrating is you can't get an answer about what's happening, what's the plan. It didn't seem like anybody from Amtrak really cared about the fact that we've been here now ... what? Nine hours now on these tracks?"

Communication. It's not excusable to poorly communicate what's going on to your passengers.

In defense of Amtrak in this case, they might not have known what happened with the UP's freight train. UP might not have told Amtrak the issue or how long a delay might be. Amtrak might also have thought we'd get some buses and get people on their way. Then, they ran into issues with the buses, and there was no news from Union Pacific regarding the train holding them up. So, maybe they felt there was nothing to report.

That said, Amtrak has developed a reputation for not being very good at communicating with passengers about what's going on, especially when delays start to stretch out and a train is dead-stopped somewhere. That's inexcusable; even without new information, it doesn't take much to pop on the intercom, reiterate the issues, thank passengers for their patience, and acknowledge what everyone's going through together.

The bottom line: Do better, Amtrak. There's no reason to leave 90 people stuck on a train so close to Kansas City.