Amtrak said it is canceling all long-distance flights starting Thursday amid Rail strike looming It could disrupt the US economy, resulting in a productivity loss of $2 billion per day.
The possible layoff stems from a labor dispute between railroad companies and union labor forces. If the two sides cannot reach an agreement this week, the strike could start on Friday.
A Labor Department spokesperson told CBS News Wednesday night that the dinner has been released and that talks in Washington between federal officials, railroad executives and railroad union leaders are continuing.
President Biden has been receiving updates and following the talks closely throughout the day, including after returning to the White House from Detroit on Wednesday night.
While Amtrak is not involved in the ongoing negotiations between the two sides, the work stoppage will affect passenger service because nearly all of its routes outside the Northeast Corridor operate on tracks that are maintained and dispatched by freight rail. This announcement comes after the passenger train service was canceled Three long-distance paths Earlier this week in anticipation of the strike.
In a statement to CBS News, Amtrak said the suspension of all long-haul lines “is necessary to ensure that trains reach their stations before freight rail service is interrupted if a solution is not found in negotiations.”
“Amtrak will only operate trains this week that we can ensure they have enough time to reach their final destinations by 12:01 a.m. on Friday, September 16,” she added.
Amtrak said most train rides on Amtrak’s Northeast Passage — such as the Acilla Train that runs between Boston and Washington, D.C. — will not be affected by the cancellation. Acela will continue to run a full schedule.
Amtrak said it is reaching out to customers with tickets on canceled routes, and will allow them to change their reservation or receive a full refund without cancellation fees. If a customer changes to another travel date, Amtrak said it will waive any difference in fares for flights departing through October 31.
Here are the tracks suspended for the dates when the trains will suspend passenger service:
As of Tuesday, September 13th:
- southwest head
- Empire builder
- California Zephyr
- Train No. 421 is part of the Texas Eagle (Los Angeles-San Antonio)
Wednesday, September 14:
- The city of New Orleans
- Starlight Coast
- Crescent
- Lakeshore Ltd.
- silver star
- mmm
- Texas Eagle
Thursday 15 September:
- machine training
- Capitol Limited
- Basic
- Palmetto (South Washington)
Ed O’Keefe contributed to this report.
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