Citing safety, operational, and financial concerns, UTU International President Mike Futhey and BLET National President Ed Rodzwicz jointly wrote key members of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees voicing strong opposition.

"We strongly believe that this provision would seriously jeopardize the safety of our membership, of other crew members on Amtrak trains, and of the intercity rail traveling public," Futhey and Rodzwicz wrote. From a safety and security standpoint, the weapons would be too easily accessible to terrorists or others passengers, they wrote.

"When firearms are transported in checked baggage on aircraft, none of the passengers have access to those firearms because they are stored in a segregated cargo hold," they wrote. "In stark contrast, anyone riding an Amtrak train need only overpower the on-board crew to have access to the baggage car and any weapons being transported therein. This poses an unacceptable risk, in our opinion."

The amendment is also wasteful of federal subsidies necessary for Amtrak to fulfill its statutory mandate. The amendment does not provide funding to train Amtrak personnel on handling the baggage with checked firearms. Additionally, adding extra procedures during check-in and baggage handling to accommodate the amendment could adversely affect on-time performance, the union leaders wrote.

"We would oppose the transportation of firearms on Amtrak trains because such additions of resources could better serve the public by increased investment in Amtrak’s infrastructure and rolling stock," Futhey and Rodzwicz wrote. "Traditional investments in Amtrak have easily documentable returns such as improved safety and increased ridership. Conversely, it is difficult to measure the return on investment to transport weapons, given the added costs involved with safely and securely transporting firearms."

The unions are currently supporting a similar Amtrak appropriations measure in the House, which lacks the provision that forces Amtrak to change its current policy of prohibiting firearms on passenger trains.

Click here to read the joint UTU/BLET letter.