As Labor Day kicks off, traditionally a weekend of heavy traveling, Amtrak has announced a new partnership with RB, the makers of Lysol, to help strengthen disinfection protocols in trains and stations. 

The partnership marks the next step in an aggressive approach to cleaning that the national transit system embraced at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

"As soon as the COVID pandemic became obvious at the end of March, we took a strong look at our cleaning protocols and went into a deep clean process every night on all of our trains," 

Roger Harris, chief marketing and revenue officer at Amtrak, told Cheddar. 

This involves teams of Amtrak employees scrubbing down cars and "misting" the interiors with antiviral disinfectant spray each night after a train is "put to bed," Harris said.  

Starting with the Northeast Corridor and Pacific Surfliner trains, RB will send in germ-kill experts and microbiologists to validate whether or not Amtrak is maintaining best practices and offer further advice.

Harris said he is not aware of any confirmed cases of coronavirus on Amtrak so far. 

Following concerns early in the pandemic, the CDC clarified that COVID-19 does not spread easily on surfaces, but Amtrak sees its nightly cleanings as both necessary due diligence and a comfort to passengers.  

"My understanding is that the focus has moved much more to airborne transmission," Harris said. "That's why we have been so focused on mask policy, enforcement of mask policy, physical distancing on the trains."

Amtrak is currently limiting capacity to roughly 50 percent, though it will make exceptions for large groups who are traveling together. 

"We're still limiting our bookings, unlike many airlines that are literally filling every seat," said Harris. 

Drawing this kind of comparison with airlines is somewhat strategic. Amtrak is banking on coming out of the pandemic as a more competitive transportation option. 

"Once people get back to traveling, we are going to be a very competitive mode, in terms of public health. I think people will see us as a preferred choice to airlines or inter-city buses." 

For the moment, Amtrak is suffering along with the rest of the country. On Friday, the company announced that it was furloughing 2,000 employees in order to sustain its current budget. 

The service benefited for a time from the CARES Act, but now that funding has dried up. With no certainty about what next year's budget situation will be, Amtrak is stretching its current finances. 

"These furloughs, unfortunate as they are, are part of what is necessary to make sure the money goes as far as possible time-wise," Harris said.  

In the meantime, restoring customer confidence is an ongoing process. Two-thirds of customers surveyed by Amtrak who have actually taken a trip said they felt "little or no risk." But for those yet to make the leap, two-thirds think it's dangerous. 

"Our challenge in life at the moment is to help educate those two-thirds of the people who think it's dangerous," Harris said. 

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