Amtrak is canceling trains as railroad unions prepare to strike, throwing the rail network into chaos — see the full list of changes
By: Yahoo
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Amtrak suspended some of its most storied and picturesque routes on Tuesday in preparation for an impending rail worker strike that could further upend supply chains and damage the US economy.
Tuesday departures for the Southwest Chief, Empire Builder, California Zephyr, and a portion of the Texas Eagle routes have all been pre-emptively canceled in order to avoid passenger disruptions, an Amtrak spokesperson told Insider.
If freight rail carriers do not reach a resolution with two major worker unions, shorter state-supported routes could also be canceled this week, the spokesperson added.
While Amtrak itself is not involved in the union negotiations, its trains travel on 21,000 miles of track throughout the Midwest and western US — nearly all of which is owned, maintained, and controlled by freight railroads. As a result, a freight rail worker strike would "significantly impact intercity passenger rail service," Amtrak said.
Most travel within Amtrak's owned-and-operated Northeast Corridor between Boston, New York, and Washington would not be affected by the potential strike, as they do not operate on freight rail tracks. The higher-speed Acela line will operate a full schedule and only a small number of Northeast Regional departures would be impacted by any strike, Amtrak said.
Passengers whose trips are affected by these changes will be able to change their reservation to another travel date, waiving any difference in fare for departures through Oct. 31, or receive a full refund without cancelation fees.
Here's the full list of train departures impacted by Tuesday's cancelations:
Southwest Chief: Chicago to Los Angeles
Amtrak Southwest Chief route mapAmtrak
Amtrak's Southwest Chief route runs from Chicago to Los Angeles. The 40-hour-plus train ride includes stops in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri.
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All trains departing Tuesday from Chicago and Los Angeles along this route have been canceled.
Empire Builder: Chicago to Seattle/Portland
Amtrak Empire Builder routeAmtrak
Amtrak's Empire Builder route runs from Chicago to Seattle, with major stops in Minneapolis, Spokane, and Portland.
All trains departing Tuesday from Chicago and Seattle along this route have been canceled.
California Zephyr: Chicago to San Francisco
California Zephyr Amtrak route mapAmtrak
Amtrak's California Zephyr route runs between Chicago and San Francisco, with major stops in Omaha, Denver, and Salt Lake City along the way.
All trains departing Tuesday from Chicago and San Francisco along this route have been canceled.
Los Angeles to San Antonio portion of the Texas Eagle route
Texas Eagle route (Los Angeles to San Antonio) Amtrak mapAmtrak
Amtrak has canceled trains departing Tuesday from Los Angeles and San Antonio along a portion of the Texas Eagle route. The remainder of the route is not currently impacted by these changes.
Remember when train travel was pleasant?
The problem here is the disruption of the supply chain. I wonder if Susan Rice is trying to stall the strike until after the midterms?
A Federally mandated 60 day cooling off period expires Thur with the potential of a strike starting on Fri. Railroad and union officials are scheduled to meet with Labor Secretary Walsh.
Not the former mayor of Boston?
OMG the Railroads are in trouble!
oh, come ON, man, Pete Buttigieg is all over this, he's got it all under control!
I rode the CZ back in the day when the railroads involved were known as the Burlington (CB&Q), Rio Grande (D&RGW), and Western Pacific (WP)....when they still had the Vista Domes....wonderful ride.
I hope this gets settled soon in favor of the unions. Biden will somehow screw this up too.
That would be a quick end, but it would add to inflation. This has no good end.
As a Railroad stockholder and railfan I support the Unions. Railroads are terribly mismanaged because of the precision scheduled railroad (PSR) idea of management.
I understand that President Biden appointed a panel to review the disputes and offer recommendations. To date, few of the affected unions have agreed to the panel’s recommendations, including a 24% pay increase over the next five years and cash bonuses.
They rejected a 24% pay increase?
I fear a strike is coming.
I deal with the rail every day for work.
It is mismanaged from the top down. That includes the Union workers. Nothing like having a driver at the ramp trying to locate a container that is not in the location listed. Still showing trackside but it was moved long ago. A yard hustler too lazy to input the container location into their system. I have been to the ramp and seen the system. It takes less than two seconds. They are supposed to scan the container; chassis; and slot dropped into their tablet. The system does the rest.
This wastes everyone's time. The driver, the ramp administration, and the ramp hustlers that have to assist the driver locating the missing container. Global 1 Chicago, IL is the worst. It handles only 1 lane to and from Los Angeles, CA domestic 53ft containers only. Containers are never registered on chassis; and always show trackside. No matter how long they have been grounded. Drivers have to report to the office to get the container assigned to chassis and notified before they can outgate. With delivery appt sensitive loads for GM plant production this is a real issue when trains are constantly arriving and grounding late at the ramp.
I won't even get into the amount of hoop jumping and time it takes if the container is on a bad ordered or mismatched chassis at the ramp.
The driver HOS rules Congress passed a few years ago instituting Elogs has drained capacity. Driver burn hours either waiting for containers to ground at the ramps; trying to find misplaced containers; or in the flip lines/shop getting containers onto new chassis or repaired.
The rail knows these issues; yet has done little or nothing to correct them. They have become more carrier/driver centric; instead of less
"Biden administration officials huddled Wednesday with union and freight-rail company representatives trying to avert a strike that threatens to shut down a crucial vein of the U.S. economy and put fresh pressure on prices when inflation is hovering near four-decade highs.
As negotiations between the railroads and labor unions approach a Friday deadline, passenger-rail provider Amtrak said it would suspend all long-distance train services starting Thursday to avoid disruptions caused by a potential strike by freight workers. While the negotiations don’t involve Amtrak workers, Amtrak’s long-distance trains operate on freight lines, and the company said it wanted to avoid passenger disruptions in the event of a strike.
In a setback, one of the unions representing U.S. railroad workers said its members rejected a tentative agreement its leaders had reached. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, or IAM, said its 4,900 members had voted to reject a deal reached with the biggest U.S. freight railroads as part of broader negotiations. A central dispute is over attendance policies and unscheduled days off if workers or a family member gets sick, an IAM union official said. Two labor unions that haven’t reached any tentative agreements—the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, and SMART-Transportation Division—have also raised the issue and are seeking to include changes to attendance policies in the talks."
JUST IN: Amtrak restoring canceled trains after tentative agreement reached
https:// trib.al/bsSWXRJ
Thank God for oncoming elections!