Amtrak s president told Congress on Thursday that some train service would have to be temporarily scaled back due to around 5% of its workforce being unvaccinated.
Stephen Gardner wrote in written testimony that he didn't anticipate having enough employees to meet the biden administration's Jan. 4 federal coronavirus vaccine deadline, necessitating service reductions, according to the Wall Street Journal.
He said he believed that the company could return to its full schedule by March or earlier.
With our plan to fully restore all frequencies by March or as soon as we have qualified employees available, Gardner told lawmakers during a subcommittee hearing that we need to temporarily reduce some train frequencies across our network in January to avoid staffing-related cancellations.
Gardner said long-distance routes will likely be the most affected, according to the Journal.
He said that some Amtrak crew bases have a relatively high percentage of unvaccinated employees and if the employees don't get the shot by the deadline, a relatively high percentage of unvaccinated employees. He stated that the goal is to achieve full-service levels, while complying with the vaccine requirement and to prioritize the safety of our customers and employees.
This week a judge blocked the federal mandate for employees of federal contractors, and voted Wednesday to repeal the COVID - 19 vaccine mandate for private businesses.