How bad will a railroad strike be?

A potential strike could lead to $2 billion a day in lost economic output, according to the Association of American Railroads, which lobbies on behalf of rail companies. Freight railroads are responsible for carrying 40% of the nation's long-haul freight and a work stoppage could jeopardize these shipments.



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A prolonged rail strike could create all types of shortages, from gasoline to food to automobiles, and cause a spike in the prices of all types of consumer goods. It can screw up the commutes of tens of thousands of workers who take the train to work, slow the delivery of parts and force factories to shut down.

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The last time US railroads went on strike was in 1992. That strike lasted two days before Congress intervened. An extended rail shutdown has not happened for a century, partly because a law passed in 1926 that governs rail negotiations made it much harder for workers to strike.

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WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden signed legislation Friday to block a national U.S. railroad strike that could have devastated the American economy.

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PUBLISHED: December 12, 2022 at 4:28 p.m. | UPDATED: December 12, 2022 at 4:29 p.m. The Great Railroad Strike of 1922 holds an infamous place in history as one of the largest nationwide work stoppages, and one of America's most violent labor strikes.

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It wouldn't take long for the effects of a rail strike to trickle through the economy. Many businesses only have a few days' worth of raw materials and space for finished goods. Makers of food, fuel, cars and chemicals would all feel the squeeze, as would their customers.

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Railroads are roughly four times more fuel efficient than trucks. Shipping freight via rail limits greenhouse gas emissions and increases fuel efficiency, reducing the transportation carbon footprint. In fact, moving freight by rail instead of truck lowers greenhouse gas emissions by 75%.

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Cost: Advantage for Rail Shipping Rail is a much more fuel-efficient mode of transportation. Railcars can also carry much more volume than trucks; one rail car is equivalent to about four full truck loads. The cost of maintaining rail cars is also significantly lower.

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The nation's supply of food could take a hit if railroad workers go on strike, driving up prices at the grocery store and limiting U.S. grain exports to countries facing famine.

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Amtrak is preemptively suspending some service because its track will be affected if freight rail workers go on strike. “Amtrak operates almost all of our 21,000 route miles outside the Northeast Corridor (NEC) on track owned, maintained, and dispatched by freight railroads,” said Marc Magliari, an Amtrak spokesman.

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WASHINGTON — President Biden signed legislation on Friday to impose a labor agreement between rail companies and workers who had been locked in a bitter dispute, averting a strike that could have upended the economy just before the holiday season.

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Train strikes 2023: Full list of October dates affecting National rail services and the lines that are running. Commuters will be hit by another round of strikes this week as the dispute between rail workers and train operating companies over pay, jobs and working conditions continues.

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While Amtrak's Acela starts to ramp up its speeds in the Northeast Corridor, the first true high-speed passenger rail will likely be Brightline's planned service between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, followed by that in California's Central Valley.

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