CHICAGO — Amtrak is dealing with several days of operating issues for a number of long-distance services, with the Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, and Sunset Limited all experiencing disruptions, most of them weather-related.
Some of California’s Pacific Surfliner service also continues to be canceled because of weather-related issues.
In California, the northbound Coast Starlight scheduled to depart Los Angeles this morning has been canceled between L.A. and Emeryville, while the Tuesday, Jan. 6, southbound departure from Seattle has been canceled today (Jan. 7) between Emeryville and Los Angeles. This follows a washout in the Santa Barbara area on Tuesday [see “Worker injured, tracks closed …,” Trains.com, Jan. 6, 2026]. Both Surfliner round trips between Goleta and San Luis Obispo, Calif., have been cancelled today, and northbound morning train No. 761 is also cancelled on Thursday, according to the Amtrak website.
Further north, Empire Builder service has been halted west of Spokane, Wash., for both the Seattle and Portland, Ore., sections because of what Amtrak is calling “severe weather conditions.” Tuesday’s eastbound departures from both Seattle and Portland were canceled, while the westbound Builder that left Chicago on Monday were canceled today beyond Spokane. As of noon Central time, the Amtrak website still shows today’s eastbound departures from Portland and Seattle as operating.
Finally, Amtrak says the westbound Sunset Limited scheduled to depart New Orleans today has been canceled between New Orleans and San Antonio, Texas, because of equipment unavailability. The eastbound train was canceled east of San Antonio on Tuesday after arriving in San Antonio at 1:10 p.m., some 8 hours, 10 minutes late. The train had required the addition of a freight locomotive to complete the trip into San Antonio after locomotive problems that were first reported in El Paso, leading to a multi-hour delay during that station stop.
Those problems also led the connecting northbound Texas Eagle to depart San Antonio some 7 hours, 17 minutes late on Tuesday; the train was 7 hours, 54 minutes late today at its most recent stop in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Amtrak currently estimates its arrival in Chicago at 8:05 p.m., some 6 hours, 16 minutes late.
— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
Too bad some of the Surfliners that do not continue on to Goleta and/or San Luis Obispo could not be extended to north on Metrolink’s Antelope Valley line to Santa Clarita, where passenger could then board the bus Bakersfield. This would eliminate the worst amount of traffic on the I-5 and about a 1/3 of the time on the bus.
And if Amtrak and Metrolink could agree, why extend some of these Surfliners all the way to Lancaster? Then put the passengers on the bus to Bakersfield. Call this the San Joaquin Daylight with the Bus Bridge route!! The time on the bus would be shorter in both time and miles than the current LAUPT to BFD,
It is a shame that the CA rail agencies do not have at least 1 round trip Bakersfield LAX. That way the coast Starlight could substitute when the coast route is closed for any reason.