UPDATE: The strike has been avoided. It is not yet clear when Amtrak long-distance and California services wil resume.
The original article appears below.
Facing a freight labor rail strike on the tracks it utilizes, Amtrak has proactively cancelled all long-distance service ahead of a looming work stoppage on Friday.
All Long-Distance Amtrak Service Cancelled Indefinitely
The National Passenger Railroad Corporation, known as Amtrak, offers service across the Lower 48, but much of it is on tracks it does not own. Indeed, outside the Northeast Corridor, nearly all 21,000 miles of track that Amtrak uses are owned, maintained, and dispatched by freight railroads.
Ahead of a potential strike that could cripple Amtrak’s ability to utilize such tracks, the rail operator is canceling all long-distance service.
“Amtrak will only operate trains this week that we can ensure will have enough time to reach their final destinations by 12:01 a.m. on Friday, September 16.”
These labor negotiations do not involve Amtrak or the Amtrak workforce, however, many Amtrak trains operate over freight railroad tracks.
Importantly, these service cuts do not impact most of the Northeast Corridor between New England and Washington, where service will remain with limited interruptions.
Suspensions include:
- Auto Train
- California Zephyr
- Capitol Limited
- Cardinal
- City of New Orleans
- Coast Starlight
- Crescent
- Empire Builder
- Lake Shore Limited
- Palmetto (only service south of Washington is suspended)
- Silver Star
- Southwest Chief
- Sunset Limited
- Texas Eagle
Amtrak’s operations in California also face a shut-down, with serivce suspensions likely on:
- Capitol Corridor
- Pacific Surfliner
- San Joaquin
All suspensions are indefinite in nature, with long-haul services not set to resume until a labor settlement is reached.
If you are impacted by this, Amtrak is offering refunds but is unable to offer alternate accommodations.
CONCLUSION
Even if the freight labor railroad strike does not occur, Amtrak determined it could not afford to risk stranding its long-haul trains in the midst of a journey. As a result, all long-distance services is now suspended until further notice.
Have you been impacted by the Amtrak service cancellations?
Should be back to normal in a day. Strike averted with Biden’s intervention. The freight issue was concerning given all the other factors right now and glad to see everyone came to their senses.
Any word on Brightline service in Florida? I believe it runs on FEC rails. I would imagine it’s out of action as well.
With the strike now averted, normal rail operations should return.
Thank you President Biden for saving the country again!
This strike is also result of the corrupt grifting congress. Everything bad happening in this country right now comes down to top covid grifters.
Tuesday night at 8, best friend called. He was booked on Capitol limited & zephyr leaving Thursday. The trip had been booked months ago as part of a family holiday. On Tuesday 8pm Amtrak had not notified him trains were canceled. Considering he’d been out of the country he was unaware of strike brewing. And don’t you hate it when you break the news? Shortly after he spoke with Amtrak. Points & money credited. He left for Manhattan. As strike was stetted they offered to put him back on his original itinerary a mere 3 hours before departure but he’s now in the wrong city. Today he’s flying out. Poor guy. He has the patience of a saint.
Rail employees still need to strike. The fact that yesterday’s planned strike was averted in the face of the laughable terms of negotiation is bizarre. It feels like there’s something else going on.
Let’s compensate our rail workers properly for the great work they do. No more wage theft and exploitation of hard working Americans!