If a strike were to occur, Amtrak would have to cancel most of its trains outside the Northeast Corridor, as they operate on tracks owned and controlled by freight railroads. Amtrak owns just 3% of the routes its trains travel.
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Freight railroads own, maintain or dispatch nearly all of the 21,000 miles that Amtrak operates on nationwide. Consequently, passenger trains cannot run on non-Amtrak tracks if there's a freight railroad strike as there will be no dispatchers to direct traffic, and the tracks may be blocked with tied-down trains.
The rail line said it was phasing in additional schedule adjustments as needed. Most travel in Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and related branch lines to Albany, New York; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Springfield, Massachusetts, would not be affected by a strike, the company said.
Only the nation's freight rail lines face a pending strike, but commuters would likely be affected, too. Many commuter trains travel on tracks maintained and operated by the freight railroads and passenger railroads expect they'll have to shut down their operations once the freight strike starts.
Supply SqueezesIf railroad workers went on strike, drayage freight truckers would lack the necessary equipment to handle the supply capacity of a freight train. With less space to transport goods via trucks, it would take longer to move the same amount of product.
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.
Amtrak canceled all of its long-distance routes starting Thursday in response to a potential railroad workers strike. Why it matters: It's the latest disruption stemming from the looming labor strike that could start as soon as Friday, which would lead to a shutdown of most of the country's railway system.
Generally, if your train is cancelled or rescheduled, you are entitled to a full refund from the firm you were due to travel with for any ticket type, including advance tickets (see how to claim your money back). This includes where the train is cancelled due to strike action.
If a train is cancelled (and that's what's happened here) you're entitled to take the next train that matches any restrictions on your ticket. So if your ticket is routed via a certain place, you must go that way, or if it's only valid on a certain train company, you must use that companies services.
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.