All Amtrak Long-Distance Routes Canceled Ahead Of Possible Strike

Ahead of a looming railroad strike, Amtrak said Wednesday it's canceling all long-distance routes starting Thursday but service in the Northeast is expected to run normally.

An Amtrak spokesperson told Patch the service "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," when the potential strike would go into effect if negotiating parties are unable to come to an agreement.

In a statement to Axios, Amtrak said it was hopeful for a resolution but had begun phased service interruptions to prepare.

"These initial adjustments include canceling all Long Distance trains and could be followed by impacts to most State-Supported routes," the statement said.

Below is a list Amtrak provided late Wednesday afternoon of long-distance trains that have been canceled:

• Canceled Long Distance Trains:
  • Southwest Chief
  • Empire Builder
  • California Zephyr
  • City of New Orleans
  • Coast Starlight
  • Crescent
  • Lake Shore Limited
  • Silver Star
  • Sunset Limited
  • Texas Eagle
  • Auto Train
  • Capitol Limited
  • Cardinal
  • Palmetto (south of Washington)

• Canceled State-Supported frequencies for the evening of Thursday, Sept. 15:

• Capitol Corridor
• Cascades
• Heartland Flyer
• Illinois Service
• Michigan Service
• Pacific Surfliner
• Piedmont
• San Joaquins
• Springfield Service (north of Springfield)
• Virginia Service

The passenger railway company said routes between Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., will see “no impact,” and only minimal changes are expected elsewhere in the Northeast. The train service said there would be no impact to Acela and minimal changes to Northeast Regional service.

"In addition, Empire Service between New York and Albany; Keystone Service between New York and Harrisburg; the Amtrak Hartford Line between New Haven and Springfield, MA; and the Downeaster between Boston and Brunswick, ME will not be impacted," Amtrak said in an advisory on its website.

Members of one union rejected a tentative deal with the largest U.S. freight railroads Wednesday while three other unions remained at the bargaining table just days ahead of a strike deadline, threatening to intensify snarls in the nation's supply chain that have contributed to rising prices.

Railroads are trying to reach an agreement with all their other unions to avert a strike before Friday’s deadline. The unions aren't allowed to strike before Friday under the federal law that governs railroad contract talks.

Patch has reached out to Amtrak for more information and will update as we hear back.

Reporting and writing from The Associated Press was used in this report.

This story is being updated.