This DCist was in New York this weekend, and like anyone who frequents Amtrak‘s Northeast Corridor between Union Station in Washington, D.C., and Penn Station in Manhattan, we know the drill while waiting for trains. In Union Station, lines can snake down the concourse prior to boarding. At Penn Station, people in the waiting room stand patiently underneath the departure and arrival board for the track number to be announced, as classical music plays through the public address system elsewhere in the station. Then once the train is ready, a track announcement is made and there’s a rush to the corresponding escalator to get to the front of the line. Then it’s a mad dash to descend deeper into the bowels of the station and quick rush down the platform to secure seats. (If you’re going to be taking a cab at Union Station, it’s best to get to the front of the train at Penn Station so you can be among the first people to make their way through Union Station and to the front of the taxi queue.)

But yesterday at Penn Station, train No. 167, which was supposed to take us back to Washington at 9:05 p.m., was an hour and a half late. And the people started to get antsy.