Amtrak Passengers Called 911, Thought They Were Being Held Hostage After Being Stranded For 30 Hours

Amtrak passengers began calling 911 after they were stranded on a train for nearly 30 hours.

The 563 passengers and over 300 vehicles departed Virginia at 5pm on Monday night, expecting to arrive in Orlando, Florida at 10am Tuesday. 17-hour trip, no worries - at least you can go to sleep and wake up and you're almost there, right?

The passengers WISH that happened.

Instead, a separate cargo train derailed along the train's route, causing a massive delay that forced the passengers to remain stranded for 29 hours!

It got so bad that passengers began calling 911, with some even claiming that they were being held hostage!

IT TOOK 37 HOURS FOR PASSENGERS TO ARRIVE

In video posted on social media, the Amtrak conductor had to go over the intercom to tell people to stop calling 911 because everything would be alright.

“For those of you that are calling the police, we are not holding you hostage,” the conductor said. “We are giving you all the information in which we have. We are sorry about the inconvenience.”

That sounds EXACTLY like something someone would say if they were taking people captive!

The whole ordeal lasting a total of 37 hours - a full day after passengers were originally expected to arrive.

The Amtrak train took over 37 hours to arrive to its destination. (ABC News)

AMTRAK NEEDED TO WAIT FOR ANOTHER TRAIN CREW

In addition to the initial train derailment, the train was held up because the crew's allotted schedule had gone over, and they legally weren't able to continue working. So, passengers then had to wait hours for another certified crew to arrive to the middle of South Carolina to take over train operations.

Now I understand why labor laws are in place for crew members so they don't get overworked. But there has to be some sort of exception to the rule here. Couldn't the crew have at least continued working till they reached the next Amtrak stop and let the passengers at least get off there? You'd think Amtrak would be willing to pay the overtime or do whatever it takes to help oh I don't know, the actual people you're supposed to be taking care of. And it's not like the crew went anywhere - they had to remain on the same train either way!

Instead, Amtrak chose to leave the passengers in the middle of a wooded-area in South Carolina. And if they couldn't go forward due to a rail issue, then what about backing up to the previous stop? Why is it so hard for these giant companies and bureaucracies to just use logic?

A 3 hour delay is fine. 5 hours is rough. But once you hit the 20+ hour mark being literally stranded?

I'm out. I would open the emergency window and say peace out and take my chances walking to a town somewhere and going straight to a bar and having a drink. And if the cops came to get me, I'm sure they'd understand and maybe would even buy the drink round for me.

Amtrak passengers were stranded for over twenty hours. (ABC News)

WHAT IS HAPPENING TO TRAVEL IN AMERICA?

We already know that the country's airline industry is a mess, now we can't even take trains without having to worry that we're going to be stuck for AN ENTIRE DAY? We could always resort to driving, but with gas being so damn expensive that's becoming increasingly difficult.

Start stretching everyone, I guess it's time we start walking everywhere.