Railroad Strike Averted, MD Commuter Trains Will Run As Normal

MARYLAND — Rail companies and their employee unions reached an agreement Thursday to avoid a strike that would have shaken the country's train service. Marylanders no longer have to worry about cancellations on the state's commuter railways.

"This is a win for the economy and for the American people," President Joe Biden tweeted Thursday morning. "Rail workers will get better pay, improved working conditions, and peace of mind around their health care costs. I thank both the unions and rail companies for negotiating in good faith."

The unions threatened to go on strike if the sides did not reach an agreement by 12:01 a.m. Friday.

The U.S. Department of Labor stepped in and hosted a 20-hour negotiating session Wednesday to avoid a work stoppage. The rail companies eventually reached an agreement to prevent a strike, U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh announced just after 5 a.m. Thursday.

"The rail companies and union negotiators came to a tentative agreement that balances the needs of workers, businesses, and our nation’s economy," Walsh said on Twitter. "The Biden Administration applauds all parties for reaching this hard-fought, mutually beneficial deal. Our rail system is integral to our supply chain, and a disruption would have had catastrophic impacts on industries, travelers and families across the country."

Related: National Railroad Strike Averted In Tentative Agreement, Biden Says

A strike would have halted some service from the Maryland Area Rail Commuter, also known as the MARC train. The stoppage would have canceled trains starting Friday on the Camden and Brunswick lines because of their reliance on CSX Transportation, a freight rail company.

"Since CSX owns and maintains the Camden and Brunswick lines in addition to dispatching MARC trains, any labor strike would result in the immediate suspension of all MARC Camden and Brunswick Line service until a resolution is reached," MARC said on its website before the deal.

The Penn Line would have run as scheduled, even if there was a strike, because it shares tracks with Amtrak.

Related: National Railroad Strike Looms, Threatens To Disrupt MD's MARC Train

WTOP reported that Amtrak owns most of the tracks that it uses in the Northeast Corridor. Amtrak said its routes between Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., would have seen "no impact." Minimal changes were expected elsewhere in the Northeast.

Marylanders no longer have to worry about these threats, however. The focus now turns to recovery.

Before negotiators struck a deal, Amtrak canceled all of its long-distance routes starting Thursday. These trains were suspended:

• Southwest Chief
• Empire Builder
• California Zephyr
• City of New Orleans
• Coast Starlight
• Crescent
• Lake Shore Limited
• Silver Star
• Sunset Limited
• Texas Eagle
• Auto Train
• Capitol Limited
• Cardinal
• Palmetto (south of Washington)

The company also proactively canceled these state-supported routes for Thursday evening:

• Capitol Corridor
• Cascades
• Heartland Flyer
• Illinois Service
• Michigan Service
• Pacific Surfliner
• Piedmont
• San Joaquins
• Springfield Service (north of Springfield)
• Virginia Service

Amtrak is now rushing to restore service and get passengers moving again.

"Amtrak is working to quickly restore canceled trains and reaching out directly to impacted customers to accommodate on first available departures," the company said Thursday on Facebook.

Passengers can visit Amtrak.com/alerts for live updates.

The Associated Press contributed reporting, as did Patch editors Feroze Dhanoa and Beth Dalbey.