CHICAGO —Metra expects it will be unable to operate on at least some of its 11 Chicago-area commuter rail lines in the event of a work stoppage on Class I freight rail lines, the agency said in a statement today (Tuesday, Sept. 13).
Commuter operators elsewhere are also beginning to assess their situations in light of a possible rail shutdown, with the two agencies serving the District of Columbia — Maryland’s MARC and Virginia Railway Express — saying their operations would cease, with one exception.
A work stoppage could come as soon as 12:01 a.m. on Friday, when a 30-day cooling off period ends that followed the release of recommendations from a Presidential Emergency Board appointed to address the dispute between railroads and their unions.
Metra owns and fully controls two lines — the Metra Electric and Rock Island District — and says those should be able to continue to operate regardless of the rail labor situation. The other nine lines “either use tracks owned by freight railroads, intersect with tracks operated by our freight partners, or are dispatched by freight railroads,” it says in the statement.
Four of those lines — the BNSF and Union Pacific North, Union Pacific Northwest and Union Pacific West — are owned by and directly operated by their namesake railroads. “If the work stoppage occurs, we expect there will not be service on these lines,” Metra says. “… On the other lines, we are in communication with the relevant freight railroads to understand how we may be impacted and to determine our options.
“We will provide updates as soon as we can.”
In the Washington area, the Maryland Department of Transportation says any work stoppage would “result in the immediate suspension of all MARC Camden and Brunswick Line service until a resolution is reached,” since those routes operate on CSX Transportation trackage. The Penn line, which operates on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, is expected to operate as scheduled.
Virginia Railway Express says its trains, which operate on CSX and Norfolk Southern tracks, would also be suspended for the duration of any work stoppage, WTOP Radio reports.
Keolis Commuter Services, contract operator of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter trains, told the Quincy (Mass.) Patriot Ledger in a statement that “there are no anticipated impacts” to its operations from a potential freight rail shutdown, but “the MBTA, Keolis and our operating partners will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
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