Suspect Packages Found on Amtrak Train at Rush Hour

By Shannon in Miscellaneous on Mar 15, 2007 3:30PM

One good thing (about the only good thing, really) you can say about the CTA is that there aren’t a lot of bomb scares. That may be because the vehicles themselves are considered enough of a hazard, but we digress. We can’t remember the last time our train was sidelined for anything besides electrical problems or medical emergencies. National rail may be another matter entirely, though: An Amtrak train headed to Chicago from Washington, D.C. was detained last night when several suspicious packages were found abandoned on it.

The No. 29 was scheduled to leave Union Station in D.C. at 4:05 p.m. and end up in the samely-named station in downtown Chicago. Around 5:30 p.m. in Rockville, MD, several packages were found with no owner attached. Bomb squads were called in, the Rockville Amtrak and Metro stations were shut down, and at least five trains were stuck on the trains until 7:30, stranding up to two thousand passengers. Thankfully nothing dangerous was found, but the snafu affected many local commuters that had nothing to do with Amtrak.

We’re hoping there’s no tie between these parcels and the alleged “Bishop” pipe bomber associated with the city. Chances are slim, since the train bomb threat turned out to be nonexistent, while the Bishop definitely has explosive tendencies. We honestly have no idea if those packages had anything to do with Chicago or not. What we do know without a doubt is that whenever we see the word “Rockville,” we get that f’ing R.E.M. song in our heads, and it’s all downhill from there.

Image via osha.gov.