20 Amtrak Trains Delayed, Turned Back by Downpour

WASHINGTON —  Twenty Amtrak trains were either delayed or canceled today, with passengers put on buses as heavy rain covered tracks along sections of the railroad’s heavily traveled Northeast corridor.

Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black said about 10,000 passengers were affected by the flooding that covered tracks north of Wilmington, Del., with 6 inches of water and debris. One of three lines was reopened this afternoon, but repair crews were working to build up the damaged roadbed on the other two.

Trains were creeping through the area at 5 m.p.h., said Black, delaying by about 30 minutes service on regular trains and the Metroliner express between New York City and Washington.

Whole Area Snarled

Metroliner trains from both directions between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. were canceled, Black said. The train normally runs every hour from both New York and Washington.

“Travel in that whole area is badly snarled and Amtrak train operations severly disrupted,” Black said shortly before noon. Later, he said the rains had abated and full service was being resumed, but with delays still anticipated through the rest of the day.

The rains came as part of the remains of Tropical Storm Allison, which dumped rain on the South for more than a week. Heavy rains battered the Maryland-Delaware area and Philadelphia early today. Philadelphia got 5.5 inches of rain in two hours.

Black said rainfall in the Wilmington area was about 6 inches in two hours.

Special buses set up to carry Amtrak passengers between Wilmington and Philadelphia and earlier between Wilmington and Baltimore were having difficulty because of flooding on roads near the tracks, he said.

The normally 25-minute trip between Wilmington and Philadelphia was taking more than two hours, Black said.

He said several trains had to reverse direction and return to the stations they left, including two in Baltimore, several in Philadelphia and one at Wilmington.