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Passengers are waiting for November 21 to board an Amtrak train at Union Station in Washington. On November 25, 299 passengers from Boston were stranded more than five hours after the blockage of the Amtrak train after leaving Penn Station in New York. (Alex Wong / Getty Images)
Lori Aratani
Reporter focusing on transportation issues, including airports, airlines, and the country's rail and subway systems
What should have been about a four-hour trip for runners aboard an Amtrak train to Boston from New York has turned into an ordeal of more than 11 hours for Sunday passengers .
The Acela 2230 landed shortly after leaving the Penn Station in New York around 9:40 am due to a power problem, leaving 299 passengers stuck on board. The train stalled in Queens.
"We left Penn Station at 9:40 and arrived in Boston around 8:20 pm," Nick Yeh told the Boston Globe on Monday.
The train was scheduled to arrive in Boston at 13:35.
An Amtrak spokesman said the train was stuck due to "damage from debris in the catenary to pantographs". (A pantograph is a piece mounted on the roof of a train that captures the energy of an airline supplying that power.)
It was not just that the train would not move. Yeh told the Globe that the power outage meant the train toilets would not run and the air circulation system was not working. The result was smelly and bulky cars.
Yeh said that despite the circumstances, people have remained relatively calm. The crew members opened the doors of the train to allow fresh air to circulate.
Amtrak spokesman, Jason Abrams, said the train stopped shortly after 9:51 pm in Queens and resumed its route around 3:45 pm. He added that the passengers received food and non-alcoholic beverages during the delay.
Abrams said that Amtrak "was discussing" with customers and offering "appropriate compensation". He did not specify what the compensation was. He said that a small number of passengers wishing to use other means of transportation left the train in New Rochelle, New York State.
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