AMSTERDAM, N.Y. — Thirteen cars of a CSX Transportation train derailed near Albany, N.Y., this morning, disrupting Amtrak service and leading to road closures.
WNYT-TV reports most of the cars, part of a 157-car train en route from Selkirk, N.Y., to Buffalo, were empty tank cars. Montgomery County Sheriff Jeff Smith said there were no injuries and no leaks of car
This is why passenger train travel is abysmal in the US. Amtrak owns almost none of the tracks they operate on. When the trains are running there are consistent hour+ delays due to waiting for freight trains to pass. Amtrak built a “shortcut” in the Tacoma area to bypass a lot of the Seattle/Tacoma area rail yards. The first train on it derailed from taking the first corner twice as fast as it was supposed to.
I tried to take a train from Portland to Seattle in April. Amtrak sent me a text the day before the trip saying “All trains are cancelled due to weather, a bus will be provided for you.” I got a robocall the next morning saying the same, but to stay on the line to talk to an operator. After about an hour hold the customer service agent said, “Yeah there was a landslide and its blocking the tracks. There won’t be a bus, there never was going to be a bus, I don’t know why the system sent that message out. Would you like a refund?” It ended up being the same price to just rent a car for the weekend.