The conductor told passengers that a disabled Norfolk Southern freight train was blocking the station platform in Altoona.

By the time NS removed the train and the Pennsylvanian discharged its riders here, it was almost two hours late, according to Metzler, who lives in Altoona.

Delays are common on the Pennsylvanian, and while that one was longer than normal, it illustrates the kind of conflicts that frequently hold up passenger trains. It also illustrates the value of a proposed agreement between NS and PennDOT for right-of-way improvements to alleviate those conflicts and allow for a second daily round-trip Pennsylvanian.

Amtrak’s recent Host Railroad Reports and Host Railroad Report Cards show that delays caused by NS are typically worse than those of the five other major freight railroads.

Passengers wait on the eastbound Amtrak Pennsylvanian Train 42 at the Altoona Transportation Center along 10th Avenue on Thursday. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Norfolk Southern is trying to do better, according to a spokesman.

“At times, as in the case of the disabled locomotive (that held up Metzler recently), there are impediments to both passenger and freight traffic that have to be worked through,” NS spokesman Connor Spielmaker wrote in an email.

That is “especially true in areas of the network that are single track,” Spielmaker wrote.

Amtrak’s Host Railroad Report for 2021 pegs NS as responsible for about 1,500 minutes of passenger train delays per 10,000 train miles.

The next most problematic Amtrak host was Union Pacific, with less than 1,200 minutes, followed by CSX, BNSF, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific — which each caused less than 900 minutes of delays per 10,000 train miles last year.

Causes of delays

Causes of host-related delays include temporary orders to reduce speed, in­­ter­­ference from passing trains, or­­­ders to divert or re-route, maintenance-of-way work and detours, the report said.

NS delayed Pennsylvanian in 2021 at the rate of 1,396 minutes per 10,000 miles, above the “target” maximum of 900 minutes.

The Pennsylvanian was more than 15 minutes late 34% of the time station-to-station in 2021, the report said.

A listing of on-time percentages for the Pennsylvanian, which runs on both Amtrak-owned and NS-owned tracks, versus the Keystone trains, which run only on lines owned by Amtrak, shows that since 2017, the Pennsylvanian was late 28% of the time, compared with 10% for the Keystone trains.

Interference problem

“Freight trains are still the No. 1 cause of delay to Amtrak passengers,” states a note on the Amtrak 2020 Host Railroad Report Card. “While the law has required railroads to provide preference to passengers over freight for nearly 50 years, freight trains caused 700,000 minutes of delay in 2020 alone.”

The Pennsylvanian actually received a passing grade, with 82% of riders boarding or arriving within 15 minutes of their scheduled times, according to the report card.

Most of Amtrak’s network consists of host lines “owned, maintained and dispatched” by freight railroads.

The biggest cause of delay, freight train interference, is typically the result of freight railroads requiring an Amtrak train to wait, so its freight trains can proceed first, the report card said.

Sometimes dispatchers force an Amtrak train to follow a much slower freight train for as much as 100 miles, and sometimes dispatchers make an Amtrak train park in a siding, while a freight train that is too long for the siding goes first, according to the report card.

Amtrak was created in 1971 by Congress to relieve freight railroads of their obligation to provide passenger service, on which they lost money.

Congress required that Amtrak retain access to the freight companies’ lines and that Amtrak trains would receive preference over freight trains.

Only the U.S. Department of Justice can enforce the preference law, “and it has brought only one enforcement action against a freight company in Amtrak’s history — and that was over 40 years ago,” according to the report card web page.

NS is working to improve, in hopes of helping to make passenger rail on its line “a more reliable and sustainable transportation alternative, according to Spielmaker.

The company is also “constantly monitoring where the system is seeing extra stress and moving or adjusting resources to match,” he wrote. And The difficulties in single track areas make the proposed NS-PennDOT agreement “a critical next step,” Spielmaker wrote.

NS doesn’t acknowledge, however, that it is in violation of the passenger priority requirement.

“We follow the law and grant preference to passenger trains on our network,” Spielmaker wrote.

The Western Pennsylvanians for Passenger Rail is an advocate for more reliable service.

“On-time performance is an important factor in maintaining and increasing passenger rail ridership,” stated Mark Spada, president of the WPPR, of which Metzler is a member.

The organization is hopeful for improved performance both near- and long-term.

The right-of-way improvements that could result under the proposed NS-PennDOT agreement should help, according to Spada.

Metzler, an archivist and historian in private practice, has traveled on the Pennsylvanian every month to work for a client in Philadelphia since 2014.

She also goes on the Pennsylvanian to watch Philadelphia Union soccer games.

She was “elated” recently to learn about the proposed NS-PennDOT agreement.

She likes traveling by rail because it’s more “environmentally friendly” and she can work or nap along the way.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.

https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/public/documents/corporate/HostRailroadReports/December-2021-Amtrak-Host-Railroad-Report.pdf