Amtrak is introducing a pilot program to notify Northeast Corridor passengers about major service disruptions via Twitter.

The program using the @AmtrakNEC handle began Tuesday.

Amtrak says Twitter users who choose to follow @AmtrakNEC will be notified of major service disruptions resulting in major delays or stoppage of all rail traffic due to equipment problems, severe weather, police activity or other causes.

Disruptions that affect a single train will not merit a tweet.

Amtrak says it will review the number of followers and retweets of the messages to determine whether the program should be modified, made permanent or expanded to other corridors.