ST. ALBANS, W.Va. — Derailment of a CSX coal train early today (Sunday, Aug. 3) has led to cancellation of Amtrak’s Cardinal in both directions between Huntington, W.Va., and New York.
The St. Albans Fire Department, which responded to the incident at 12:33 a.m., said in a social media post that no injuries were reported; a 220-car coal train was involved but the number of derailed cars was immediately available. Traffic has been affected in “a large area in the eastern portion of St. Albans,” according to the post.
For Amtrak passengers that left Chicago on the Cardinal on Aug. 2, bus transportation is being provided on a drop-off only basis between Huntington and Washington, D.C., with other trains providing transport to New York, according to an Amtrak Alerts post. The train that was supposed to leave New York will originate in Huntington; Amtrak’s alert makes no mention of alternate transportation.
St. Albans (population 10,861 as of the 2020 census), is 10 miles west of Charleston, W.Va., on CSX’s Kanawha Subdivision.CSX derailment in West Virginia leads to Amtrak cancellations
Remember that the route where the derailment occurred – known as CSX’s Kanawha Subdivision – is a key corridor for coal shipments through the region.
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Regrettably, here’s another example of how Amtrak’s operations department and Amtrak’s website/app system do not coordinate with each other —
(1) The CSX derailment happened around 1230am in St. Albans, WV
(2) Train #50, the CARDINAL, arrives in Indianapolis at 1216am, 27 minutes late. Amtrak then holds Train #50 for 7 hours 30 minutes at Indianapolis and has #50 depart at 746am, knowing it will terminate #50 at Huntington, WV. The delay at Indianapolis was either waiting on a decision for open track at St. Albans, or to figure out how they would handle train crews and passengers.
(3) The Amtrak website/app shows the delay to Train #50. Yet when checking for Train Status at downline stations, for all points east of Huntington, the website/app continues to show “Estimated Arrival/Departure” times for Train #50 at EACH station! This implies that #50 will be operating through to New York. So for passengers who are not familiar with railroad operations, and who don’t know that train #50 will be terminated in Huntington to become #51 going westbound back to Chicago, those passengers are lead to believe #50 will be operating late from their boarding station.
(4) As of 400pm Sunday, the website/app continues to show #50 at Hinton, WV arriving 521pm, departing 522pm. For White Sulphur Springs, WV it shows #50 arriving 621pm, departing 623pm. For Charlottesville, VA it shows #50 arriving at 921pm, departing at 926pm! None of these are correct, since #50 won’t be operating east of Huntington! Why does Amtrak’s computer system NOT UPDATE with the correct information!
(5) Ticketed passengers who keep checking the website/app continue to be given Train Status info telling them #50 will be running, albeit over 7 hours late! These passengers then go to their respective stations, wait for #50 to arrive late, only to eventually discover #50 never comes! They’ve waited hours, they’ve been given false information by Amtrak’s website/app and by Amtrak’s Call Center (1-800-USA-RAIL) agents who simply read what’s on their computer screens, all the while being told #50 will be operating late. Yet the Operations Department knows #50 is being terminated in Huntington.
This is ABOMINAL CUSTOMER SERVICE in the age of instant internet communications and computers! And folks wonder why Amtrak has trouble getting and keeping customers. Amtrak didn’t used to be like this. Now it’s the norm. So Sad!