Amtrak Takes Steps to Deal With the Heat Wave

It’s no secret that there is a heat wave blanketing much of the country and, in particular, the East Coast. Unusually hot weather can cause real problems for a railroad. Locomotives can overheat and breakdown and when that happens, a passenger train’s air conditioning system goes down, too. That can be a real problem with a couple of hundred passengers on board.

Heat kinks, another problem attributable to unusually hot weather, can literally bend steel rails out of shape and occasionally cause derailments.

Amtrak has taken steps to deal with any possible problems by locating rescue locomotives at regular intervals along most of their routes. Track speeds have also been reduced. For instance, trains running south of New York City, which normally operate up to 110 miles an hour, are being restricted to a maximum of 70 mph. Other trains operating more to the west have had their maximum speeds reduced from 70 to 50 mph.

There will be, of course, a corresponding impact on schedules, so if you’re going to be traveling by train along the Eastern Seaboard, better check with Amtrak about arrival and departure times.