Rail union urges federal reversal of Amtrak lockbox gun plan due January 2027

Union says defective locks or brute force could endanger riders and crews

The Transport Workers Union has denounced a planned Amtrak policy that would allow passengers to carry firearms in personal lock boxes on the railroad’s intercity trains. The union, which represents 360 onboard service workers at Amtrak, said the policy is scheduled to begin in January 2027, and it called on the federal government to reverse course.

The proposal would extend firearms access from secure baggage cars to passenger seating, and the union says the arrangement would place weapons in confined spaces under passengers’ control rather than the railroad’s. The dispute also turns on who would respond if a lock failed or a passenger forced one open.

Under the protocols described by the union, gun owners would bring their weapons in cases to an Amtrak station agent, who would add an Amtrak-owned combination lock. Passengers would carry the weapons onboard, and a station agent at the arrival station would remove the Amtrak lock.

Amtrak currently allows passengers to take guns on a few long-distance trains, where they are stored in secure baggage cars. Brian Delucia, staff representative at TWU International, said the new policy would permit passengers to bring guns to their seats in lockboxes on an additional 1,500 trains a day across the US. That would include routes that about 750,000 people travel every day on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, which includes the railroad’s busiest services connecting Washington, New York and Boston.

John Feltz, International Rail Division director of the Transport Workers Union, said in a statement: “You can’t walk on to a plane with a gun, it has to be checked with your luggage and stowed away.” In the same statement, Feltz said: “So why allow guns in passenger cars on trains where there are also passengers in confined spaces? This is sheer lunacy.”

Feltz also said: “A case or lock could be defective, or an enraged rider could use brute force to access a weapon. Either scenario will endanger the lives of riders and our members working on trains.”

The union called on the federal government to reverse course on the policy, noting that many Amtrak stations do not have Amtrak staff or law enforcement presence to respond if something goes awry.

Amtrak had previously said it was considering the policy, amid pressure from the Trump administration to ease restrictions on transporting weapons, but had not announced a timeline. Amtrak did not immediately respond to a request for comment.