AMTRAK, THIS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Another weekend of train cancellations.

Early-season forest fires in Alberta temporarily shut down Canadian National’s main line between Jasper and Edmonton over the weekend, forcing VIA Rail Canada to turn the westbound and eastbound Canadians at those locations and bus passengers between them.

Meanwhile, a variety of issues inflicted significant delays on Amtrak long-distance trains. This included an 8-hour delay west of Whitefish, Mont., for the westbound Empire Builder that left Chicago on Friday, May 5, resulting in the cancellation of the Sunday, May 7, eastbound train from the Pacific Northwest to St. Paul, Minn., and Monday’s westbound Builder beyond the Twin Cities to Seattle and Portland, Ore.

Sunday's westbound Builder was cancelled after some cars derailed in the north throat of Chicago's Union Station, and the hits kept coming from there.

According to the Amtrak Alerts Twitter feed, track obstructions and freight train interference were the main reason for the Zephyr and Builder delays, while mechanical issues departing their originating terminals hurt the Starlight and Lake Shore.

In addition, both eastbound and westbound Southwest Chiefs were each delayed 2 hours Saturday by signal issues between Lamy and Las Vegas, N.M., on a BNSF-owned line in which they are the only trains operating.

From the comments: "Service is not priority # 1. CYA comes first."  So it often is with government work.