CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Amtrak has announced that trains to all destinations from Chicago are back on track, after a three-day fiasco left hundreds of people stranded at Chicago's Union Station and at stations across the region.
Terrence Coleman said he was at Union Station for three days before finally receiving word that his train was good to go to Seattle.
"It was very annoying, as far as how I was feeling, and [it was] very stressful," Coleman. "I was very anxious. I'm from New York, so this was a long way from home."
Gavin Jenkins was trying to get to Macomb, Ill.
"I'm only supposed to be here for a week, and the situation has already taken two days out of that week," he said. "Along with the fact that I don't really have much money. My plan was to come here, get a train and go stay with my friend for the week, and yesterday I was crying over there on the steps because I didn't have any place to stay, and I don't know anybody in this town."
Jenkins said he asked for hotel accommodations but was denied.
Coleman and Jenkins said they were both able to rebook their trains to Seattle and Macomb, which were scheduled to be on time.
Terrence Coleman.Carolina Garibay
WBBM traffic anchor Susan Berkes was stuck in downstate Bloomington, where she said people were sleeping and stranded all over the station.
"There's no way to get through to a person at Amtrak whatsoever, and they are so flooded that they're not getting back to people," Berkes said. "They're even sending out incorrect press releases."
Marc Magliari, with Amtrak, said he apologizes to passengers who have been affected. Officials said a server issue was to blame for the cancellations and delays.
Nicholis Smith, who was trying to get to North Dakota, said he wasn't too confident that Amtrak trains were going to be back on schedule — after three days of minimal communication and false hope from an understaffed Amtrak team.
"It was horrible," Smith said. "We knew more from our cell phones than they did. We knew more on the board than the person at the desk did, and one person was handling, like, 100 people at a time, so it took hours, and hours, and hours."
Nicholis Smith.Carolina Garibay
Other than that, Smith said he lucked out. Amtrak put him up in a hotel and gave him food vouchers, which made for a pretty enjoyable spontaneous weekend in Chicago.
Adrian Torres, who was trying to get home to California, wasn't as lucky.
Torres said he wasn't offered a hotel room and wasn't really able to leave the station.
"For the last few hours, I've just kind of been trying to get rid of my stuff … so I could maybe see around town, but they were like, 'Well you can't do that,'" Torres said. "I don't have the money to be leaving my stuff here for $10 per luggage that I'm not even supposed to be here for."
Like Jenkins and Coleman, Smith and Torres said they were both able to rebook their trains.
Listen to our new podcast Courier Pigeon
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
