Amtrak passenger stranded for 20 hours sounds off on being 'stuck in the middle of nowhere' in Carolinas
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been under fire for multiple travel crises in recent weeks
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A woman who was stranded on Amtrak's famed Auto Train around the same time America's airways were at a standstill due to a Federal Aviation Administration glitch sounded off Wednesday on "Tucker Carlson Tonight."
The Auto Train, which makes one daily overnight trip each between Lorton, Virginia, and Sanford, Florida, is a long-haul alternative to I-95, where travelers can have their vehicles loaded onto specialized railcars to skip the drive while staying in either Pullman-style "roomettes" with meals and a shower, or typical coach seating.
Monday night's Auto Train was forced to divert near Denmark, South Carolina, due to a CSX derailment, which led to a 20-plus hour delay in the trip. Outside the northeastern United States, Amtrak generally does not own the tracks it travels on and instead must share track managed by freight rail.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}With there being no scheduled stops on the Auto Train — besides the typical crew change at Florence, South Carolina, in the middle of the night — Colleen McKenna was one of many riders stranded on the train in the Carolina woods.
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The Amtrak logo (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
McKenna expressed frustration that Amtrak purportedly did not provide sufficient information to passengers who were essentially stuck inside the train.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I woke up about 6 a.m. on Tuesday, and we were stopped in North Carolina and I spoke with one of my attendants, and he just said that there was a derailment of a train in front of us, so we're going to have to take a detour," she said.
McKenna said it was clear by that exchange that the crew had little idea what was going on either, nor did they know when the train would finally arrive in Florida.
McKenna said later, the train did move across the state line from North to South Carolina before stopping again for another six hours. At that point, passengers were informed crews had to, by policy, change-over, and that a replacement crew would be arriving later, but were delayed several hours.
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Amtrak's high speed Acela (Reuters)
Host Tucker Carlson previously reported other passengers called police, which led to video of a conductor saying over the loudspeaker that passengers were not being held hostage by the railroad.
As for the "hostage" announcement, McKenna said she initially thought it was funny, but that she also understood passengers' concern because they were not allowed off the train as it was in the middle of South Carolina's rural expanse.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
"So we were locked in, but I didn't feel unsafe," she said.
Carlson later asked if, given the DOT's focus on racism in transportation infrastructure, there was any hint of "misogyny or transphobia" during the delay. McKenna said she did not notice anything "significant" of that sort.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A spokesperson for Amtrak told Fox News Digital earlier Wednesday that the train eventually arrived safely in Sanford on Wednesday morning.
FOX Business' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.