FORT MADISON - A looming freight railroad strike is resulting in the cancellation of Amtrak service on its long-distance routes out of Chicago, including the Southwest Chief running through Fort Madison.
Fort Madison Mayor Matt Mohrfeld said he was unaware of the news Tuesday morning but was looking into the situation.
A pending railroad workers strike with freight rail workers would leave lines, which Amtrak uses for passenger service, unattended.
Starting Tuesday, Amtrak said service would be suspended on the Southwest Chief (Chicago to Los Angeles), the Empire Builder (Chicago to Minneapolis to Spokane to Portland/Seattle), the California Zephyr (Chicago to Denver to San Francisco) and the Los Angeles to San Antonio Train #421 portion of the Texas Eagle routes.
Southwest Chief runs east and west through Fort Madison with a daily stop running in each direction.
The Zephyr runs through Burlington and Ottumwa on it's way to LA. Both those locations are going through multi-million dollar depot renovations.
Mohrfeld said he was surprised by the news, but said it made sense with the news that the freight line workers with BNSF are threatening a strike.
"Two weeks ago when they were in town and we went out to supper they were talking about routes that could be added," Mohrfeld said.
Amtrak said in its statement that the moves were necessary to make sure passengers didn't get stuck midroute.
"These initial adjustments include the cancellation of three Long Distance routes on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022, and could be followed by impacts to all Long Distance and most State-Supported routes. These adjustments are necessary to ensure trains can reach their terminals prior to freight railroad service interruption if a resolution in negotiations is not reached," the statement indicated.
The strike could effect tens of thousands of rail workers across the country. The rail freight industry failed to reach a contract agreement with union workers and a federally mandated 30-day "cooling period" ends Friday.
President Joe Biden and his administration are working to resolve the issue prior to Friday to avoid straining rail commerce and supply chain movement.
Amtrak operates most of the tracks in its Northeast Corridor, which runs from Boston to Washington, so operations in that sector would be generally go unaffected. But the cancellation of the three long-distance routes starting on Tuesday, in preparation for a freight rail disruption, could “significantly impact intercity passenger rail service.”
Additionally, the Amtrak statement released Monday indicated..."Amtrak is closely monitoring the ongoing freight rail – rail labor contract negotiations. The negotiations do not involve Amtrak or the Amtrak workforce. While we are hopeful that parties will reach a resolution, Amtrak has now begun phased adjustments to our service in preparation for a possible freight rail service interruption later this week. Such an interruption could significantly impact intercity passenger rail service, as Amtrak operates almost all of our 21,000 route miles outside the Northeast Corridor (NEC) on track owned, maintained, and dispatched by freight railroads. These initial adjustments include canceling some Long Distance routes starting on Tuesday, September 13, 2022, and could be followed by impacts to all Long Distance and most State-Supported routes. These adjustments are necessary to ensure trains can reach their terminals before freight railroad service interruption if a resolution in negotiations is not reached.
Amtrak will reach out to impacted and potentially impacted customers, informing them of the potential situation, offering to change their reservation to another travel date, waiving any difference in fare for departures through October 31, or receiving a full refund without cancelation fees.
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