At South Station, passengers grapple with surprise shutdown by Amtrak

By L. Finch and Stewart Bishop,Globe Correspondent

Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said all trains between Boston and New York will be canceled as of 5 p.m. today.

"Blizzard like conditions associated with a major winter storm continues to impact a large portion of east coast," Cole said in a statement. "This has caused Amtrak to make several service adjustments including the cancellation Northeast Corridor service between Boston and New York beginning later this afternoon."

In addition, Cole said all Downeaster service between Portland, Maine and Boston has also been canceled for today. 

At South Station, where all Amtrak service from Boston to Washington D.C was canceled after 5 p.m., would-be passengers bundled with their luggage waited in line to reschedule their travel plans.

Alexis Ostnioff was trying to get home to New York City after her flight out of Logan International was canceled today. She then bought an Amtrak ticket via Washington D.C. but was left stranded with the cancellation of that train.

“I tried to get an earlier flight, but then I said ‘oh I’ll just take the train,’” the 30-year-old said. “I thought it would be the best shot.”

Ostnioff, who was visiting family in Medford for Christmas was tentatively rebooked on a 5:10 train tomorrow morning. She said she wasn’t sure if she was going to stay in a hotel near the station or bother her family to pick her up for the night. She said this was the first time her holiday travel plans had hit a serious snag because of weather.

“I’ve been lucky in the past avoiding this around a Nor’easter but I guess my time has come,” she said.

All MBTA commuter rail service at South Station appeared to be running on time.

Amtrak spokesman Cole said he was unsure at this time when the canceled service would resume.

"It's unknown at this time," Cole said. " We're going to look at the operations plan and come up with a plan for the morning."