Passengers traveling from Virginia to Orlando were stuck on board an Amtrak train for more than 29 hours earlier this week.
According to ABC News, the train was scheduled to depart from Virginia at 5 p.m. on Monday and arrive in Florida on Tuesday around 10 a.m., but a collision between a CSX freight train and another vehicle on the tracks during the South Carolina portion of its trip forced the train to divert.
Passengers had to sit and wait in South Carolina while a licensed backup team arrived. It was also reported that the train employees were only allowed limited hours to work due to safety regulations.
Sam Sweeney of ABC News tweeted late Tuesday night that passengers had been “stuck on board for 29+ hours.” It was reported by local ABC affiliate WPDE that the train started moving again just before 10 p.m.
It appeared that some passengers who had been delayed for hours began calling the police after growing impatient with Amtrak.
In a video Sweeney shared on Twitter, a train conductor can be heard saying: “For those of you calling the police, we are not holding you hostage. We are giving you all the information which we have. We are sorry about the inconvenience. As soon as more information is available, we will let you know shortly.”
Amtrak released a statement later in the day: “Tuesday’s southbound Amtrak Auto Train has been impacted by significant delays due to a CSX freight derailment in South Carolina. The train was detoured off its normal route to continue operating south and is currently stopped in Denmark, S.C., while it waits for a new crew to arrive. Customers have been provided meals, snack packs, and beverages. A new crew travels to Denmark to board the train and work onboard when service resumes. A new crew is necessary because the hours of service for the previous crew expired.”
It is unknown how many people were on board.
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