Passengers On Boston-Bound Amtrak Train Stranded For Nearly Six Hours
BOSTON (CBS) – It was a rough trip home for passengers on an Amtrak Acela train for New York City to Boston.
Train 2230 was stuck for nearly six hours outside of Penn Station due to a power problem.
"Five minutes getting out of the tunnel, we were stuck," said passenger Nick Yeh.
Yeh said the train left Penn Station on time – around 9:40 a.m. But it came to a halt near Queens.
About five hours later, passengers were running out of phone battery and patience.
"About an hour of the way through, they decided to open up all of the doors on the left side of the train to help circulate air because it was starting to get warm and stuffy," said Yeh. "Because we were out of power, the toilets were unflushable for the entire five hours we were waiting."
Passenger Beth Jacobson said there was an unpleasant solution to the toilet situation.
"What the stewardesses ended up doing was making a porta-potty out of a cardboard box," she said.
Yeh told WBZ-TV the train conductors did a good job keeping passengers calm. Crews even passed out water and food as repairs were being made.
Jacobson said the communication could have been better.
"There should've been some more updates," Jacobson said.
The train eventually started rolling toward Boston and arrived around 8 p.m. Despite the significant delay, Yeh said it could have been a lot worse.
"The thing about Amtrak is that you can still get up, walk around and get fresh air. If I was on a plane like that for five hours, I would lose my mind," he said.
Passengers have not yet heard if they will receive a refund from Amtrak.
