Anonymous
By the LOSSAN Agency
“We are hopeful that a resolution will be reached prior to Thursday but as the parties have not yet reached an agreement, we are doing everything we can to notify our customers and provide alternate service options if the rail service is interrupted,” said Jason Jewell, interim Managing Director of the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency. “We have closely coordinated with Amtrak and Metrolink to maximize service options for our customers including providing bus bridges where possible.”
If an agreement is not reached by Thursday, Pacific Surfliner service will be adjusted as follows.
- On Thursday, September 15, 2022:
- Trains 586, 794, and 595 will be canceled entirely
- Train 591 and 594 will operate from San Diego (SAN) to Fullerton (FUL) by rail. A bus connection will be available from Fullerton (FUL) to Los Angeles (LAX)
- Train 785 will be canceled from Los Angeles (LAX) to Goleta (GTA)
- Train 777 will be canceled from Goleta (GTA) to San Luis Obispo (SLO)
- On Friday, September 16, 2022, and ongoing until negotiations are concluded:
- Trains 562, 572, 586, 573, 583, and 595 will be canceled entirely.
- Reduced service between San Diego (SAN) to Fullerton (FUL) with additional stops in Orange, Tustin, and Laguna Niguel.
- All train services between Los Angeles (LAX) to Fullerton (FUL) will be canceled. There will be Thruway Bus connections in place between Los Angeles (LAX) and Fullerton (FUL) for passengers with a valid Amtrak or Metrolink ticket. Thruway buses will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis.
- All train services between Moorpark (MPK) and San Luis Obispo (SLO) will be canceled.
- Metrolink and limited Pacific Surfliner service will be available between Los Angeles (LAX) and Moorpark (MPK) and tickets for either service will be accepted on all trains.
- Limited Thruway Bus service will be available from the Chatsworth Station to Oakland, stopping at Camarillo, Oxnard, Santa Barbara, Grover Beach, and San Luis Obispo.
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For the duration of the potential service disruption, Pacific Surfliner trains will also stop at Laguna Niguel, Tustin and Orange stations and accept all Metrolink ticket types between Oceanside and Fullerton.
Unreserved Coach Ticket holders impacted by the service disruption can use their existing ticket for travel on a different date up to one year later. Business Class Ticket holders can adjust their travel date or request a full refund by calling 800-USA-RAIL or visiting an Amtrak ticket window.
Once a settlement is reached, service will resume as quickly as possible.
As this is an evolving situation, some of the information above may change. Please visit https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/plan-your-trip/alerts/travel-advisories/potential-service-disruption/ for train schedules and most current updates.
About the Amtrak® Pacific Surfliner®
The Pacific Surfliner travels along a 351-mile coastal rail route through San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, serving 29 stations. It is the busiest state-supported intercity passenger rail route in the United States. To learn more and plan a trip, visit pacificsurfliner.com.
About the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency
The Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency is a joint powers authority composed of rail owners, operators and planning agencies along the entire LOSSAN rail corridor. In addition to working to improve passenger rail ridership, revenue, on- time performance, operational flexibility, and safety, the LOSSAN Agency assumed management responsibility for the Pacific Surfliner service in July 2015, following the execution of an interagency transfer agreement with the state of California. For more information, visit Lossan.org.
This is being caused by the train companies, not the unions: Amtrak canceled service on all its long-distance routes, but not a single train worker is on strike.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/13/rail-strike-economy-impact/
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A crucial issue in the dispute is a points-based attendance policy adopted by some of the largest carriers earlier this year. Those policies penalize workers, up to termination, for going to routine doctor’s visits or attending to family emergencies. Conductors and engineers say that they can be on call for 14 consecutive days without a break and that they do not receive a single sick day, paid or unpaid.
“All we’re asking is folks to be able to go to routine doctor’s visits without pay, but they have refused to accept our proposals,” Dennis Pierce, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) said before the deal was struck. “The average American would not know that we get fired for going to the doctor. This one thing has our members most enraged. We have guys who were punished for taking time off for a heart attack and covid. It’s inhumane.”
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