Amtrak Train Separates Near Albany, New York, Engine Detaches

Update: 11:05 p.m. EST - Amtrak tweeted the mechanical issue had been solved and the replacement train was running on a delayed schedule to transport the passengers to New York.

“The transfer is now complete. Train 68 is now on the move currently operating about 3hr 15min late,” the tweet said, requesting passengers to check the company’s website for further updates.

Original story:

An Amtrak train on its way to New York City on Wednesday came to a stop south of Albany-Rensselaer (ALB) after its engine car separated from the rest of the train due to “mechanical issues.”

“Amtrak train 68, the Adirondack traveling from Montreal to New York Penn Station, experienced a mechanical issue when two of the cars separated near Albany Wednesday night, around 7:22 p.m. [EST]. There were no reported injuries to the 287 passengers or crew. The passengers are being transferred to another train to continue to their destination. We are currently investigating the cause of the car separation,” the company said in a statement regarding the issue.

According to local news outlet Pix11, Amtrak dispatched a replacement engine to the scene where the passengers were stranded in the cold and it arrived 40 minutes after the train came to a halt. Meanwhile, several passengers who were in the train at the time of the incident took to Twitter to describe their experience.

Two of the passengers said Amtrak 68 started depicting mechanical issues shortly after leaving the station:

Another named Colin O’Laughlin wrote: “The locomotive suddenly detached from passenger cars, we are like a sitting duck on the tracks.”

A third user took out his frustration at having been stranded without being offered refreshments. “Some real final destination s--t for you all: my Amtrak train has been ripped in half at my car. The front part kept going, my part came to a very rough stop & now we sit & wait a hundred hours to be rescued. Send food, please,” he tweeted.

There were also those who criticized the transport company for ruining their Thanksgiving holiday.

“Basically the engine took off leaving the entire train and passengers behind,” a woman tweeted after her son sent her a picture from the train. “Is this how you get college kids home for the holidays?”

Apparently, Amtrak 68 was not the only train run by the company which reported issues on Wednesday. A passenger on Amtrak 48, traveling from Chicago to Albany, which got delayed, tweeted:

It is not clear if the delay of Amtrak 48 was prompted by the delay of Amtrak 68. According to the company, 48 too was experiencing an engine problem, which was the cause for the delay.

“Ummm... ok. Shall my kid just plan to spend Thanksgiving on the tracks?” the passenger wrote.

Another train – Amtrak 64 – was also delayed due to the mechanical issue of 68. “And I’m sitting in a train (one stuck behind the one that came apart) where we were told 'emergency protocol', workers cannot attach the engine due to radio silence, indefinite delay,” tweeted a passenger on that train.