Amtrak is suspending service of its nonstop Acela train between New York City and Washington, D.C., due to a decrease in demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the rail carrier announced Friday.
“The safety of Amtrak’s customers and employees is our top priority. We are closely monitoring the coronavirus and are taking action based on guidance from public health experts,” the passenger rail service said in a statement.
“As we are experiencing some reduced demand for our service, we are making temporary adjustments to our schedule, such as removing train cars or cancelling trains when there is a convenient alternative with a similar schedule that will have minimal impact to customers,” Amtrak’s statement said.
So far the only line affected is the Acela Nonstop service — Trains 2401, 2402, 2403 – which normally runs weekdays between New York’s Penn Station and Union Station in D.C.
Launched late last year, the Acela Nonstop direct service between the cities will be suspended starting Tuesday, March 10, through Tuesday, May 26, according to the announcement.
Similar routes that traverse the Northeast Corridor but include other stops along the way are currently slated to continue running as scheduled.
Amtrak’s announcement came amid growing concerns about the coronavirus outbreak reaching pandemic proportions as the number of confirmed cases of the disease continue to swell.
It also occurred on the eve of Gov. Andrew Cuomo declaring a state of emergency Saturday after the number of people in New York to test positive for the coronavirus surged to 76.
In the U.S., at least 352 people with the coronavirus have been treated in 28 states since the first domestic case was confirmed in late January, according to The New York Times.
Internationally, the World Health Organization reports that more than 100,000 people have contracted the infectious respritory disease since it was discovered in China in December.
New York’s Penn Station and Washington’s Union Station were the two busiest stations across the entire Amtrak network during fiscal year 2018, the rail carrier previously reported.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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