Passenger trains in America are not great compared to Europe and Asia, but Amtrak’s service on the Northeast Corridor from Boston to D.C. is decent.1 It’s not nearly as speedy as it could be, but I enjoy the minimal stress of taking the train down to New York City. Last weekend, ahead of just such a trip, I received the following from Amtrak:
Please be advised that due to excessive heat, track speeds have been reduced and delays are possible. We apologize for any inconvenience.
I had recently read about helicopters being unable to safely fly in extreme heat, because hot air is less dense, making it more difficult to generate lift. I couldn’t reason out why it would slow trains, however. Thankfully, a quick web search led me to “Why Extreme Heat Causes Amtrak Delays”. Therein, I found this answer:
Extreme heat can affect Amtrak infrastructure. For instance, if tracks get too hot, they can develop a kink; or if overhead power wires—called a catenary system—get too hot, they can sag, [Amtrak spokesperson W. Kyle] Anderson shares.
When these issues occur, Amtrak slows trains down for safety and to reduce the likelihood of problems. This all makes sense to me. However, I was struck by one thing, emphasized below:
When the temperature of the rails reaches a certain threshold, Amtrak requires that locomotive engineers operate trains at slower speeds than usual, in order to spot potential hazards and adjust course accordingly.
When moving on rails, it seems awfully difficult to “adjust course”.2
Footnotes:
Amtrak also runs trains north of Boston, up to Portland, Maine (and just beyond, terminating in Brunswick, Maine). And yet, because of a ridiculous 1.5 mile gap between Boston’s South and North Stations, there are no direct routes. The North-South Rail Link which would bridge this gap is something I hope to see in my lifetime. ↩︎
Fine, fine, I realize that “adjusting course” can mean changing speed, instead of or in addition to changing heading. Given that a train can’t do the latter, however, it seems unnecessarily imprecise to not just say “adjust speed”. ↩︎
