Amtrak cuts 3 long-distance routes, citing potential rail strike
Amtrak on Monday said it canceled three long-distance train routes in advance of a looming railroad union strike that is threatening to hobble the nation's economy. The train operator , which is not a party in the labor dispute , said in a statement that a strike that could begin Friday "could significantly impact " its intercity passenger rail service, since it operates almost all of its 21,000 route miles outside the Northeast Corridor "on track owned, maintained, and dispatched by freight railroads ." To avoid the scenario of passengers being stranded in the event of a worker strike , Amtrak said, it was preemptively canceling Tuesday departures for its Western U.S.-focused Empire Builder, California Zephyr and the Southwest Chief routes. 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, N.Y., Harrisburg, Penn., and Springfield, Mass. ...