Amtrak suspended some of its most storied and picturesque routes on Tuesday in preparation for an impending rail worker strike that could further upend supply chains and damage the US economy.
Tuesday departures for the Southwest Chief, Empire Builder, California Zephyr, and a portion of the Texas Eagle routes have all been pre-emptively canceled in order to avoid passenger disruptions, an Amtrak spokesperson told Insider.
If freight rail carriers do not reach a resolution with two major worker unions, shorter state-supported routes could also be canceled this week, the spokesperson added.
While Amtrak itself is not involved in the union negotiations, its trains travel on 21,000 miles of track throughout the Midwest and western US — nearly all of which is owned, maintained, and controlled by freight railroads. As a result, a freight rail worker strike would "significantly impact intercity passenger rail service," Amtrak said.
Most travel within Amtrak's owned-and-operated Northeast Corridor between Boston, New York, and Washington would not be affected by the potential strike, as they do not operate on freight rail tracks. The higher-speed Acela line will operate a full schedule and only a small number of Northeast Regional departures would be impacted by any strike, Amtrak said.
Passengers whose trips are affected by these changes will be able to change their reservation to another travel date, waiving any difference in fare for departures through Oct. 31, or receive a full refund without cancelation fees.
Here's the full list of train departures impacted by Tuesday's cancelations: