Amtrak cancels morning trains

QUINCY — Amtrak today has announced that morning train service between Quincy and Chicago has been suspended through Jan. 16.

Amtrak trains 381 leaving Chicago at 7:35 a.m. and 380 leaving Quincy at 6:12 a.m. are canceled until mid-January.

Amtrak is notifying customers who purchased tickets for those trains that buses will be used for those routes instead, including travelers who had planned on using the train for Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks.

Amtrak spokesperson Marc Magliari said the cancellations are due to staffing concerns as the Amtrak employees’ collective bargaining agreement allows workers to choose what shifts and routes they want to work based on seniority.

“On the Quincy, Macomb, Galesburg route, enough of the engineers have decided to work other routes that it’s put us in this deficit,” Magliari told Tri States Public Radio. “We don’t have enough staff in terms of engineers to operate both trips.”

The evening trains along the route will continue as scheduled.