WASHINGTON - Amtrak's ticket booking system is reportedly down Friday evening, as thousands of travelers across the U.S. deal with a nationwide FAA ground stop.
Amtrak ticket booking down
What we know:
Users on social media started sharing frustrations over ticket reservations Friday afternoon, with travelers showing error messages on Amtrak's website and app.
Hundreds of users have reported issues on DownDetector, beginning shortly before 5 p.m. Friday, with another surge just before 6 p.m.
Amtrak says issues caused by increased demand
What they're saying:
In response to a request for comment, Amtrak's Communications Director W. Kyle Anderson said that "Amtrak service is operating normally, and we are seeing increased demand for travel across our network."
Responding to a frustrated customer Friday, Amtrak officials said in a post on X that the booking issues were related to a system-wide update, but did not elaborate.
FOX 5 DC attempted to call the support number listed with the error message. An automated message said officials were unable to take calls due to "unusually high call volume."
Travelers scrambling during ground stop
The backstory:
The outage comes as thousands of travelers across the country are scrambling for new plans, after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop — the first since January 2023 and just the second since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The FAA has said that the ground stop was ordered due to a "temporary telecommunications outage."
The Source: Information in this story is from social media posts commenting on the ticket booking outage, error messages on Amtrak's website and app, phone calls to Amtrak's support and media relations lines and previous FOX reporting on the Federal Aviation Administration's nationwide ground stop.