RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The specter of a possible strike is forcing Amtrak to cancel some long-distance journeys.
The strike may come on the finish of this week, after greater than a 12 months of negotiating pay and dealing circumstances with freight railroads and unions representing their staff.
Sean Denims-Gail with the Rail Passengers Affiliation mentioned some unions got here to an settlement however others nonetheless need extra.
“Extra certainty in scheduling, the flexibility to go see a physician and never get penalized and even fired,” he mentioned “We’re now in a cooling-off interval the place a tentative answer was proposed.”
Although a strike isn’t sure and disruptions to passenger providers should not clear, Denims-Gail mentioned Amtrak has already canceled some long-distance journeys throughout the nation.
“They’ve already began to do a phased suspension of service for a few of their longer-distance trains that take a number of days to get throughout the U.S.,” he mentioned. “They don’t need any stranded passengers, gear or staff.”
Minor schedule adjustments are anticipated on just a few northeast regional trains serving locations from Virginia to Boston.
“All passengers will likely be severely impacted if an settlement isn’t reached by Friday at midnight,” he mentioned.
Denims-Gail added that Virginia may begin seeing a suspension of shorter-distance providers by Thursday.
Greater than 110,000 folks boarded state-sponsored Amtrak routes in July, based on the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority. That’s 20% increased than pre-pandemic ranges and a 30% improve since June.
The Authority instructed 8News Tuesday that they’re working intently with Amtrak and their freight railroad companions for the newest info.
“VPRA is working intently with Amtrak and our freight railroad companions to make sure passengers on our state-supported trains have essentially the most up-to-date info out there,” mentioned DJ Stadtler, government director of the authority. “We perceive our passengers depend on rail service to journey across the Commonwealth, and we sit up for a decision.”
“Chlorine that we use for our consuming water, a variety of it comes by practice and in order that’s going to be the actual driver of those negotiations and the intervention from the political aspect,” Denims-Gail mentioned.
8News reached out to Amtrak a number of instances on Tuesday for extra info, however they haven’t responded to requests.