When Daylight Saving Time ends in autumn, Amtrak trains stop for one hour at the next station to keep their schedules on track.

The practice stems from the Uniform Time Act of 1966, which standardized Daylight Saving Time across the United States. Amtrak follows a specific protocol: any train on schedule must remain at its station until the clock matches its official departure time. This ensures passengers at subsequent stops don't miss their train because it arrived and departed an hour early.In the United States, the autumn transition occurs at 2:00 AM on the first Sunday in November, when time reverts to 1:00 AM. If an Amtrak train is between stations at this moment, it typically slows down or waits at the very next scheduled stop until the hour has elapsed. This operational rule maintains the integrity of published timetables and coordinates with local transit authorities.Spring presents the opposite challenge on the second Sunday in March. When clocks jump from 2:00 AM to 3:00 AM, trains suddenly fall an hour behind their scheduled arrival times. Amtrak cannot skip track miles, so engineers must recover as much time as possible while adhering to strict Federal Railroad Administration speed limits. This seasonal shift underscores the complex logistics of managing a national rail network across multiple time zones.