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World & Nation

Train derailment spurs travel chaos along busy Northeast corridor

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An Amtrak train that derailed on its way from Washington to New York City in Philadelphia.

  (JIM LO SCALZO / EPA)
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Emergency personnel work at the scene of a deadly train derailment in Philadelphia.

  (Patrick Semansky / Associated Press)
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Injured passengers that were bused from to New York from Philadelphia wait at Penn Station in New York. Rescuers on Wednesday combed through the mangled wreckage of a derailed train in Philadelphia after an accident that left at least six dead, as the difficult search for possible survivors continued.

  (TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP/Getty Images)
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Investigators and first responders work near the wreckage of an Amtrak passenger train carrying more than 200 passengers from Washington to New York that derailed in north Philadelphia.

  (Win McNamee / Getty Images)
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Investigators and first responders work near the wreckage of an Amtrak passenger train that derailed in north Philadelphia.

  (Win McNamee / Getty Images)
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Rescuers combed through the mangled wreckage of a derailed train in Philadelphia after an accident that left at least six dead, as the difficult search for possible survivors continued.

  (JEWEL SAMAD / AFP/Getty Images)
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A man looks at an Amtrak train that derailed on its way from Washington to New York City in Philadelphia.

  (JIM LO SCALZO / EPA)
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Passengers injured in an Amtrak train derailment who were bused from to New York from Philadelphia walk through Penn Station in New York.

  (TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP/Getty Images)
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Emergency personnel work to help victims in a deadly train wreck May 12 in Philadelphia.

  (Joseph Kaczmarek / Associated Press)
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A passenger is carried away after the derailment. Northeast Regional Train 188 was traveling from Washington to New York City.

  (Paul Cheung / Associated Press)
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Emergency personnel at the scene of a derailed Amtrack train headed to New York City.

  (Matt Slocum / Associated Press)
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Train passengers gather near the derailment site.

  (Paul Cheung / Associated Press)
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A passenger gets medical assistance after an Amtrak train derailed in Philadelphia en route to New York City.

  (Paul Cheung / Associated Press)
By W.J. Hennigan
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Reporting from Washington — 

The deadly Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia triggered widespread delays and congestion along one of the nation’s busiest travel corridors Wednesday, spurring thousands of commuters to change or cancel plans.

Bus lines and short-haul airlines did brisk business as travelers searched for alternatives.

Amtrak said Wednesday that service would be affected at key points in the company’s Northeast corridor, a line known as “the busiest railroad in North America,” with more than 2,200 trains operating over some portion of the route each day.

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Amtrak announced that there would be no service between New York and Philadelphia as a result of the incident and limited service between Washington and Philadelphia; Harrisburg, Pa., and Philadelphia; and New York and Boston.

The move comes after Northeast Regional Train 188 derailed as it headed around a turn in Philadelphia on Tuesday night on a route from Washington to New York. Six cars came off the tracks, overturning and killing six passengers and injuring others, some critically.

The deadly wreck took place on the busiest passenger line in the nation -- a 456-mile corridor along the East Coast connecting Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Boston with trains regularly reaching speeds of up to 150 mph.

Amtrak carried 11.4 million passengers on the line from Washington to New York to Boston in fiscal year 2013, according to the company’s latest published figures.

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World & Nation
W.J. Hennigan

W.J. Hennigan covered the Pentagon and national security issues from Washington, D.C., before leaving the Los Angeles Times bureau in November 2017. While there, he reported on war, counter-terrorism, and the lives of American service members from more than two dozen countries and previously covered the aerospace and defense industry from Los Angeles. Hennigan earned awards from the National Press Club, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, and was a contributor to the Los Angeles Times coverage of the terror attacks in San Bernardino that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2016.

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