Amtrak Passengers Bound For NYC Stuck On Train For Hours Due To Winter Storm In Virginia
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Traffic is back to normal on Virginia's Interstate 95 after a winter storm paralyzed traffic.
Hundreds of commuters were stranded for nearly 30 hours, and they weren't the only travelers impacted by the weather.
As CBS2's Cory James reports, among those folks stranded for hours were Amtrak passengers on board a train from New Orleans to New York City. They were supposed to arrive in New York before 7 p.m. Monday, but icy conditions interrupted their trip and they ended up stranded in Lynchburg, Virginia.
"We've been stuck for 22 hours. This is totally ridiculous," one traveler said. "There's trees on the track."
Claire Czeczil was one of those trapped.
Meanwhile, a CBS Miami reporter and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine were among the drivers impacted on I-95.
"It is a parking lot," the reporter said.
"The only thing I ate was one orange and the only liquid I had was one 16-ounce Dr. Pepper," Kaine said.
Officials say a blizzard leaving behind a foot of snow shut down 40 miles of interstate. Crews blamed heavy rain that fell ahead of the intense snow for preventing them from treating the highway.
Allie Byers works for a Texas-based company that recently studied I-95 and found it to be the most dangerous highway in the United States with many accidents occurring in the northeast during the winter.
"What we saw a lot of drivers practicing risky driving behaviors," she said.
But in this case, snowy weather was the cause of the massive backup on the highway and tracks.
"It's not Amtrak's fault ... being stuck on the train for 14 hours," Czeczil said.
Passengers on the train, which is now moving again, say they are not expected to arrive in New York until after 12 a.m. Wednesday.
Amtrak says food and water was provided to those on board.