Amtrak addresses major delays along northeast corridor during busy travel season

BALTIMORE -- As Marylanders continue to head to their holiday destinations, Amtrak was hit with a slew of delays and cancellations Monday.

The issues were caused by downed power lines over the weekend, which shuttered service along the northeast corridor. On Monday, Amtrak crews were still addressing signal power issues impacting tracks going in and out of New York Penn Station.

In a statement, Amtrak said the signal power issues were causing single tracking conditions, in turn causing rail congestion all along the northeast corridor.

Aside from delays, a number of trains were cancelled between Washington and Boston.

In a statement, Amtrak said there's no estimate on when service will return to normal.

Delays in a busy travel period

A lot of travelers didn't realize their train was delayed or cancelled until they arrived at Baltimore Penn Station.

Sharon Morring, who was traveling by train to Virginia, said her train was delayed more than two hours.

"I was just here on Thanksgiving, it was fine, it was like a 45 minute delay," she said. "This is the longest [delay I've had] and I ride this train all the time."

Geza Hanniker, who traveled to Baltimore to catch a train to New York City, said his train was delayed about an hour, but he's no stranger to traveling around the holidays. He accounted for potential delays when creating his itinerary.

"I kind of anticipated the mad rush and any delays. My flight doesn't leave until 10 p.m.," Hanniker said.

Morring wasn't expecting a delay, but she didn't let it bother her.

"I didn't wanna go all the way home and then come back," Morring said. "I have a nonprofit organization, so I'm just going over my little stuff."

Best days to travel

AAA is predicting 2% more Marylanders to travel in this year-end holiday travel period, estimating more than 2.3 million are heading somewhere at least 50 miles away.

Nearly 117,000 are taking a train, bus or cruise, according to AAA estimates, while more than 134,000 are flying.

The majority -- more than two million -- are expecting to drive. 

If you're still planning to drive, Ragina Ali, with AAA Mid-Atlantic, said traffic would be minimal the most on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.