Amtrak cancels more long-distance trips as freight strike looms

Amtrak is expanding service cancellations to long-distance routes across much of the US to avoid disruptions ahead of a potential freight rail worker strike later this week. 

The only nationwide passenger rail provider in the US said it would cancel trips on seven long-distance routes starting Wednesday that serve major US cities including Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City and New Orleans, a spokesperson said. The actions come after suspension on three long distance routes announced Monday. 

The move to suspend service is one sign of the fallout from a labor dispute between unions and freight railroads that could descend into crippling shutdown of the nation’s freight rail network as early as Friday. Amtrak said it had begun phased service adjustments to prepare for a potential interruption that could “significantly impact” its service between US cities outside of the Northeastern US between Boston and Washington, D.C. 

Although Amtrak owns its Northeast Corridor lines connecting Boston, New York and Washington, the service’s long distance routes operate on tracks owned by freight rail companies such as CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp., leaving it vulnerable to a work stoppage. Most travel along the Northeast Corridor wouldn’t be affected. 

“These adjustments are necessary to ensure trains can reach their terminals before freight railroad service interruption if a resolution in negotiations is not reached,” the spokesperson said Tuesday in an email. 

The new cancellations represent a large swath of Amtrak’s national route system. It would halt major rail passenger trains across the Midwest, South, Rocky Mountains and West Coast.

While it encompasses a majority of the miles that Amtrak travels, most of the passenger rail service’s customers are centered in the densely populated East Coast. 

Of Amtrak’s 10 busiest stations in 2021, according to the company’s website, only two are are outside of the East Coast -- Chicago and Los Angeles.