A water main break caused train tracks near BWI Airport to become submerged Wednesday morning, shutting down Amtrak service between Baltimore and Washington for hours and causing delays along the Eastern seaboard.
The service disruption began at about 7:45 a.m. after Amtrak received a report from the Baltimore Department of Public Works about a 36-inch water main break in Halethorpe, which is near Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport.
The break caused water to shoot out of an underground pipe along Washington Boulevard and cover the adjacent rail tracks, according to Baltimore Public Works spokesman Kurt Kocher.
Parts of Baltimore and Howard counties experienced water outages because of the break, and residents were asked to conserve water.
Kocher said he believed the break was caused by structural problems that are common with pre-stress concrete pipes, which were installed throughout the country in the 1970s and proved defective in many instances.
The break caused a major disruption in Amtrak’s service, leading to cancellations and delays on trains the length of the Eastern seaboard.
“Obviously this affects our entire Northeast corridor, which traditionally has the heaviest ridership,” Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said.
Maryland’s Transit Administration ran buses for stranded commuters, providing rides between Baltimore’s Penn Station and the BWI railway station.
Amtrak crews worked throughout Wednesday to clear trees, mud and other debris from the affected track and had resumed limited service between Washington and Baltimore around noon. Still, officials expected major delays through the evening.
