In the wake of the massive 32-hour traffic jam in Virginia this week, we've seen a fair bit of commentary from folks arguing that the whole snafu underscores the need for more train service throughout the United States.
With that in mind, let's check in to see how the trains are doing:
A midnight train from Georgia has been trapped on the tracks in Virginia for more than 30 hours...
Tuesday morning, passengers still aboard the train reported they were without food, functioning toilets and information from the rail service as to what happens next.
"All we've been told is there are trees on the tracks preventing us from moving forward," passenger Sean Thornton said Tuesday. "Nobody has eaten for about 20 hours and the toilets in coach are completely backed up. The snack bar sold out of food yesterday. Passengers have been banned from leaving the train."
Oh, "passengers have been banned from leaving the train"?
Yeah, I gotta say, if they try and keep me seated for 30 hours when the food is gone and the toilets are full, I only got one game plan:
Okay but for real though here was the weirdest part:
Enoch Cook of Baltimore boarded the Crescent 20 train in New Orleans. He said the weather turned bad north of Atlanta, and one or more downed trees forced the train to stop about 30 miles north of Lynchburg, Va. Cook said the train was stranded there for about eight hours before heading in reverse back to Lynchburg.
Yeah um, like, Lynchburg isn't New York City—it's not even as big as Richmond—but it's still, you know, a city. It's got hotels and restaurants and everything else.
There's literally no reason these people couldn't have gotten off the train and gone somewhere that wasn't a rapidly deteriorating Amtrak train until the tracks are clear.
At least the train eventually got moving.
Maybe think about this a little more thoroughly next time, Amtrak!
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