Amtrak woes may point to bigger rail service problems

McClatchy reports:

Last year’s freight congestion that was snarling Amtrak service in the upper Midwest has shifted east, and it’s gotten so bad that Amtrak has resorted to putting passengers on buses.

Congestion on Norfolk Southern in recent weeks has delayed Amtrak trains from Chicago to Detroit, Boston, New York and Washington.

“Everything we have between Chicago and Michigan and the East Coast uses that route,” said Marc Magliari, an Amtrak spokesman.

The Chicago-Seattle Empire Builder experienced the most severe delays last fall. Now it’s the Chicago-Washington Capitol Limited, which was late 97 percent of the time in September.

Yet, Barack Obama thinks railroads are the future.