Amtrak gums up CHI, NOL, Michigan

[blue streak 1]

How did everyone miss this one? .  The Amtrak dispatch center located in CHI US for whatever reason failed Thursday morning and was not restored until late this evening.  All Amtrak, METRA ( BNSF, MKE) trains became stuck.  Commuters really took a hit as Amtrak appears to have favored their trains.  If you check Amtrak status map you will see all the delays.   

Will post a few links as edits.

This first one is Amtrak's take on their center

http://blog.amtrak.com/2014/05/photos-inside-amtrak-chicago-control-center/ 

 

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-biz-metra-delays-computer-amtrak-20190228-story.html 

https://twitter.com/OnTheMetra 

This  link is status reports you can sort out the CHI and Michigan ones as the Amtrak Michigan tracks are also affected.

https://twitter.com/AmtrakAlerts 

[blue streak 1]

CBS info

https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2019/02/28/metra-union-station-signal-problems-trains-halted/

Someone asked when Amtrak announced that they were moving CHI US , NOL US, and Michigan Amtrak owned tracks into one dispatching system if it was robust enough. Who ever asked as well if any back up system was in place? We cannot understand why this system was not set up to be taken over by one of the Amtrak NEC dispatch centers.  Our understanding is that the NEC centers are tied together that way?

The NEC centers probably are firewalled from each other normally much as the class 1s that have back up setups.  

Is this   another example  of the Amtrak CEO thinking that only the NEC matters?  We hope not!

BALT  any thoughts on back up locations?

[BaltACD]

blue streak 1

BALT  any thoughts on back up locations?

Beyond Chicago Union Station I have no idea what the limits are of Amtrak controlled territory existing outside of the NEC.

By the same token, some malady at K Tower in Washington Union Terminal would also cripple the NEC from its Southern origin as well as affect MARC and VRE commuter operations.  K Tower is a Operators position that manipulates the switches and signals of WUT and communicates with CSX BC and BD Dispatchers as well as a Amtrak dispatcher at CNOC in Philadelphia.

I have no idea what sort of process control computers are used to operate CUS and WUT, I therefore have no idea of what actually caused the problems in the CUS system.

Having back-up hardware/software for a location is one thing, having personnel at the back-up hardware location that are qualified to operate the hardware properly is a bigger problem.  Dispatching is a continuing game of 'next', knowing the trains being operated in the order they are scheduled to run and by exception when trains are not on schedule.  You can't just plug a otherwise qualified Dispatcher into a territory he has had no experience with and expect flawless operation.

[charlie hebdo]

https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2019/02/28/union-station-metra-amtrak-delays/?fbclid=IwAR2vmfSS2oVzZV9BW2dqQbWYZu56svTzKEUUyXWRjKWKmsJpMrgy2MNXZHg

The problem was fixed by 9:00 pm Wednesday, normal ops today.

[blue streak 1]

Hey why pay a little over time when you can save a few bucks by  starting upgrades at the beginning of the day?  So it is rush hour no problem! Save a buck on LD and Regional trains? Wonder how many years of overtime it will cost Amtrak to break even?   Seems like IT departments of all companies never make consideration of possible failures.  Kalmbach a good example.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-amtrak-metra-union-station-switching-problem-20190301-story.html 

EDIT====  BTW= Wasn't it during Anderson's tenure at Delta that Delta's IT shut the  airline down? Fool me once-----------

[MikeF90]

blue streak 1

Hey why pay a little over time when you can save a few bucks by starting upgrades at the beginning of the day?

As a retired IT guy I'll bet you big time that this decision was not made by IT techies, but by a clueless 'stakeholder' or manager-puppet. "Risk, hell, do it Now!" Lack of a fallback plan probably had a role also.