April 20, 2020

From Trains Magazine Newswire - April 20, 2020

Effective today, Amtrak will require all customer-facing employees wear a facial covering of some kind — a mask if available— and strongly encourages all other employees and passengers to wear coverings. At Friday’s employee town hall, the first hosted by new CEO William Flynn, CEO asked employees to start each day with a new disposable mask or a freshly-washed cloth mask. He said the company now has disposable masks available at all staffed stations and crew bases. “We are not providing customers with facial coverings at this time; they are responsible for bringing their own,” said Flynn, adding, “If a customer refuses to wear a mask after an employee graciously asks, let it go. It’s not a requirement, just a recommendation.” In the question and answer session, obtained by Trains News Wire, Amtrak Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer D. J. Stadtler, said that Amtrak is not requiring patrons to wear masks, “because we travel through so many states and localities where rules are different. We’re strongly encouraging; If they refuse, make sure the passengers are practicing social distancing away from employees and other passengers,” said Stadtler. While masks are not mandatory at shops, he noted that Amtrak “began distributing 415,000 disposable masks in the past few days and expects to receive over a half a million more in the coming week.”