Amtrak has canceled all long-distance trains nationwide starting Thursday, as it prepares for a possible freight-rail strike that would impact its service and further disrupt the supply chain.
While the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington is unaffected, many of the passenger railroad's other major routes will not run, including the Lake Shore Limited from New York City to Chicago and the Silver Star from NYC to Miami.
A member of the House Transportation Committee, Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas, tweeted about the shutdown after widespread media reports. Amtrak later confirmed it via statement.
The strike threat stems from freight railroad workers over schedule pay. According to union workers, scheduling has some workers on call 24/7 and even with a proposed increase in pay, the situation is derailing -- potentially costing the U.S. economy $2 billion in losses per day if a deal isn't reached, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).
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"This is a lot more than just our pay necessarily," train engineer Michael Lindsey said. "These companies think they own our lives. This is a lot bigger than just the railroad industry."
Although the strike does not impact Amtrak employees, since a lot of the Amtrak services run on those freight rail lines, a possible strike would shut down those routes.
However, for local commuters, the MTA said the possible strike should not have an impact on its passengers.
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Meanwhile, the White House is stepping in amid calls for Congress to intervene.
According to supply chain expert, David Fisher, "basically everybody" would be impacted by a strike.
"What moves on the rails is everything related to manufacturing: warehouse, distributions, even clothes," Fisher said.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said the economy is dependant on a "strong rail system."
"The rail companies and the labor unions are really going to have to work together," Buttigieg said.
These negotiations went on into Wednesday evening, with at least one labor union essentially agreeing to delay any possible strike by roughly two weeks. However, there are a number of other unions at the center of these ongoing negotiations as Washington, D.C. urges both sides to come to an agreement.
Amtrak Cancellations
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Amtrak warned Tuesday that it would have to start canceling some trains ahead of the possible strike on Friday, which stems from a dispute between freight railroads and their workers over pay and scheduling.
While Amtrak employees aren't part of a potential strike, the railroad runs much of its service on freight lines, meaning a strike would leave those routes unable to operate.
"Most travel within the Amtrak-owned Northeast Corridor (Boston - New York - Washington) and related branch lines to Albany, NY, Harrisburg, PA, and Springfield, MA would not be affected: Acela would operate a full schedule, and only a small number of Northeast Regional departures would be impacted. Amtrak will reach out to impacted and potentially impacted customers, informing them of the potential situation, offering to change their reservation to another travel date, waiving any difference in fare for departures through October 31, or receiving a full refund without cancelation fees," the rail said in a statement.
