Irene strands travelers in Philadelphia

Regional rail travelers had a little extra time in Philadelphia this weekend thanks to Hurricane Irene. Amtrak suspended train service in the region Saturday evening and late Sunday afternoon said they did not know when it would be restored.

An Amtrak official said there are washouts and hundreds of trees down along Amtrak lines from Washington, D.C. to Boston, and engineering teams are assessing tracks to determine the extent of the damage. Long-distance service for some lines has been cancelled for Monday.

30th Street station was nearly deserted Sunday afternoon, but the arrivals and departures board there was a depressing sight for the few travelers who had nowhere else to go.

Washington. Richmond. Atlantic City. New York. All cancelled.

“I’m very annoyed,” said William Vann, 43, who was trying to get home to Newark, New Jersey. “When you want to go home, you want to go home!”

Agustin Cid, who evacuated his Atlantic City  Friday and said he had heard of flooding near his home, was antsy to get back to survey the damage.

“We trying to go back right now but the train station is closed so I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Cid said.

Cid and his family stayed at a Philadelphia hotel over the weekend but said they did not know where to go Sunday night.

“We don’t have anywhere to go and we spent all our money already, but uh, we’ll be fine,” Cid sad.

SEPTA started restoring bus, trolley and subway service Sunday at 10 a.m., though Regional Rail remained suspended.

The Philadelphia International Airport opened for limited arrivals at 4 p.m. It said departures will resume Monday. It urged travelers with plane tickets to contact their airline for updates on how flight schedules might change.