Currently sitting on train 195, NYP-WAS but stopped somewhere between Trenton and Philadelphia. Conductor announced that the train ahead of us has broken down and we will be doing a transfer of passengers. We've pulled up alongside them and they are transferring into our train via the cafe car.

In all my years riding Amtrak, I've never experienced this. I've been on plenty of trains that needed to be rescued via other engines and towed into stations, but never a direct train to train transfer.

As you could imagine, its pretty hectic and a little chaotic but the crew is clearly trying their best. Its also put our train significantly behind schedule, but I'm glad that the other passengers aren't going to be stuck for longer.

Is this type of transfer a rare occurence?