Harsh Winter Hinders Amtrak in Midwest

Harsh winter weather continued to lead to delays and cancellations for Amtrak on Wednesday, including in the Midwest.

Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said a week of temperatures near zero caused a series of “weather-related equipment issues.”

A Chicago-Port Huron, Michigan, Blue Water round trip was cancelled on Wednesday as a result.

The same day the Chicago-bound Pere Marquette, which originates in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was terminated at its first intermediate stop in Hollard, Michigan, due to equipment problems.

Passengers were transferred to a bus to complete their journey to their destination.

Several corridor and long-distance trains that did operate on Tuesday and Wednesday encountered lengthy departure delays from Chicago.

That included the eastbound Cardinal to New York via Indianapolis and Cincinnati, which didn’t depart Chicago Union Station until 7:21 p.m.

The scheduled departure time for Train 51 is 5:45 p.m.

After a late Tuesday arrival in Chicago from Carbondale, Illinois, the Saluki was canceled on Wednesday and its counterpart to Carbondale, the Illini, was cancelled that day. Both trains were cancelled on Wednesday.

Today the westbound Capitol Limited reached Cleveland more than an hour late but the westbound Lake Shore Limited was reported to have arrived on time.

Tags: Amtrak, Amtrak and winter, Amtrak Blue Water Service, Amtrak Midwest corridor trains, Amtrak service cancelations, Amtrak's Pere Marquette, j