What is the Amtrak strike about?

The potential railroad strike stems from unsuccessful labor contract negotiations between the labor unions for train crews and the major freight carriers (i.e., BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific). These parties are currently in a 60-day cooling-off period that expires at 12:01 am EST on September 16, 2022.



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Railroad workers first threatened to strike in July after more than three years of failed contract negotiations. The unions have generally pushed for a pay increase, better working conditions, relaxed attendance rules, and additional paid time off without fear of punishment.

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The 2022 United States railroad labor dispute was a labor dispute between freight railroads and workers in the United States. Rail companies and unions had tentatively agreed to a deal in September 2022, but it was rejected by a majority of the unions' rank-and-file members.

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A rail strike could have frozen almost 30% of U.S. cargo shipments by weight, stoked already surging inflation, cost the American economy as much as $2 billion a day, and stranded millions of rail passengers.

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The simple answer: your Amtrak trip won't be affected by the government shutdown. As we've seen during previous government shutdowns, Amtrak has enough cash on hand to keep the trains running and workers paid in the near term.

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Which Amtrak train routes are canceled?
  • Southwest Chief, which stops in Chicago, Kansas City, Albuquerque, Flagstaff, and Los Angeles.
  • Empire Builder, which stops in Chicago, St. ...
  • California Zephyr, which stops in Chicago, Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Emeryville (San Francisco)


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The workers who would go on strike work for freight rail companies, such as Berkshire Hathaway's BNSF and Union Pacific.

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The following routes are experiencing suspended services: the Southwest Chief, Empire Builder, California Zephyr, City of New Orleans, Coast Starlight, Crescent, Lake Shore Limited, Silver Star, Sunset Limited, Auto Train, Capitol Limited, Cardinal, Palmetto (south of Washington) and Texas Eagle.

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In fiscal year 2022, Amtrak served 22.9 million passengers. That figure was down ten million from 2019 when 33 million people rode Amtrak, a 30% decline.

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Amtrak trains stop in almost all U.S. states. The exception is South Dakota, Wyoming, Hawaii and Alaska.

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Amtrak is a federally chartered corporation, with the federal government as majority stockholder. The Amtrak Board of Directors is appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Amtrak is operated as a for-profit company, rather than a public authority.

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Train travel is much simpler, as there is no TSA PreCheck® or CLEAR equivalent for Amtrak. Amtrak trains offer private rooms, more legroom, more space from your fellow passengers, more comfortable seats, and more food & beverage options.

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The railroads estimated that a rail strike would cost the economy $2 billion a day in a report issued earlier this fall.

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Under the Railway Labor Act, the federal agency that oversees railroad and airline labor relations is the National Mediation Board, which tries to bring the two sides together, and it set up a series of limits and cooling off periods during which unions can not strike and management can not lock out the workers.

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