Amtrak’s Wolverine 351 train is scheduled to take five hours between the Detroit area and Chicago, but a recent ride took much longer.
Amtrak reported the train was running at least nine hours behind. While delays happen on ocassion, passengers told the Chicago Tribune that the train lost power about an hour into the trip.
Even after the train was moving again, it was being pushed by a functional train, leaving those inside the train without power.
Sheri Laufer told the newspaper that passengers were left without food or a working restroom for hours.
“I have not (had a trip this bad),” Laufer told the Tribune. “I had the train (I was riding in) hit a car. The train hit a cow. I’ve had all kinds of weird things happen to me on this train, but this is the worst.”
Michael Bambery of Ann Arbor, Mich., tweeted during the ride that people on board were cold and hungry.
“Do you have any updates for us? Nobody on the train is communicating with us,” he tweeted at Amtrak.
Bambery told the Chicago Tribune that he left the train and finished the trip using Uber.
The train eventually arrived in Chicago, 19 hours after it left Pontiac, Mich.
According to Amtrak, it was on time about 80% of the time in 2020, which was comparable to past years. Amtrak considers trains on time if it arrives within 10 minutes of their scheduled arrival for trips of 250 or fewer miles. It is considered on time if the train arrives within 30 minutes on trips of over 551 miles.
