Amtrak stuck 37 hours in South Carolina: ‘We are not holding you hostage,’ conductor says

An Amtrak trip became a grueling 37-hour ordeal for passengers traveling to Florida when their train was stuck in rural South Carolina for hours on Tuesday.

The auto train trip from Virginia to Orlando, FL was supposed to take 17 hours, NBC News reported. The train departed from Virginia around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, however, by 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, passengers had still not arrived at their destination. The train’s new expected destination arrival was reportedly 6 a.m. on Wednesday.

Late on Tuesday, Sam Sweeney, an ABC News journalist, tweeted video a passenger sent of their experience after 29 hours on the train. On the video, a train conductor can be heard saying, “for those of you that are calling the police, we are not holding you hostage. We are giving you all the information which we have. We are sorry about the inconvenience. As soon as more information is available, we will let you know shortly.”

During the stoppage in South Carolina, passengers were told they were not allowed to leave the train at any point, NBC News reported.

The train was impacted by “significant delays” brought about by a CSX freight train that had derailed in South Carolina, an Amtrak spokesperson told NBC News. As a result, the Amtrak train was detoured to continue moving south.

Passengers were given regular updates, as well as meals, snacks and beverages, the spokesperson added.

While some passengers called police and posted video, others tweeted about their experience, while at least one person asked Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg for help.