After being stuck for more than 36 hours, the Amtrak train with nearly 200 people onboard in Oregon is on the move again.
The Amtrak Coast Starlight train left Seattle around 9:45 a.m. Sunday with a planned final destination of Los Angeles, but hit a tree that had fallen across the tracks at 6:18 p.m, stranding more than 180 passengers and a dozen or so crew members. It didn’t move again until Tuesday morning, when a Union Pacific locomotive began pulling it back toward Eugene, Ore.
According to The Oregonian, the crew attempted to repair the train until 1 a.m. on Monday. At 7 a.m Monday passengers were told another train was coming to take them back to Eugene but the rescue was delayed due to weather conditions and downed trees.
Winter storms in the area closed roads, making it harder to reach the stranded train. Passengers, stuck on board with few updates and diminishing supplies, made the most of the situation.
Rebekah Dodson, a passenger on the Amtrak train stranded in Oakridge just sent me this video. #amtrak #OakRidge pic.twitter.com/nU41KXXqV6
— Lincoln Graves (@LincolnGraves) February 26, 2019
here’s what it looks like inside the train… it’s been stuck for 24 hours east of #Eugene with more than 180 people onboard. You can see people sleeping & playing games. Stranded in snow after hitting a downed tree Sunday night… #fox12 #eugene #snow #oakridge #amtrak #oregon pic.twitter.com/GMcNQSQIOa
— Bonnie Silkman KPTV (@BonnieSilkman) February 26, 2019
update – they’re now playing the ukulele…
Looks like they’re all spending a second night on the train, trying to make the best of it. Thanks to John onboard for all these videos! #fox12 #stuckamtrak #oakridge #snow pic.twitter.com/qoU59GXUaO
— Bonnie Silkman KPTV (@BonnieSilkman) February 26, 2019
Some passengers and their families expressed frustration with Amtrak, complaining that there hadn’t been enough communication about the situation.
https://twitter.com/entrepremomer/status/1100277950740684802
Shortly before midnight on Monday, Amtrak announced a service suspension between Portland and Eugene through Thursday.
Amtrak faces difficult times. A spate of recent crashes and derailments, including a high-profile derailment in Washington state in 2017, have raised questions about safety. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has slashed the federal subsidy for the passenger railway, making infrastructure investment all the more difficult.