VIA Rail is acting now to prevent passengers from being stranded in the event of a strike by cancelling some long-distance departures, according to a company spokesperson.

Locomotive engineers voted to walk off the job on Friday if a tentative agreement isn't reached by noon on July 24.

The company put up a notice on its website late Tuesday, warning passengers of cancellations.

In the event of a strike, passengers who are scheduled to depart before noon on Friday will be transported to their destination, either by train or alternate means, the notice said. All trains scheduled to leave the station after noon will be cancelled.

However, train service along the Sudbury-White River and Victoria-Courtenay routes will operate as usual because they are run by third parties, the notice says.

As of Wednesday, VIA cancelled or cut short several of its long distance routes, including trains travelling between Vancouver and Toronto that began its route on Tuesday.

VIA said those trains will stop in Winnipeg and passengers will be offered either a refund or alternate transportation to their destination. Commuters will not be responsible for the price difference if the alternate mode of transportation is more expensive than their train ticket, said a VIA official.

"If (engineers) do go on strike at noon (Friday), we don't want passengers to be stranded on the way," said Ashley Doyle, VIA Rail spokesperson. "We want everyone to get to their destination."

A full list of cancellations is available on the VIA Rail website.

A strike would affect about 340 engineers that are members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Union.

However, hundreds of other workers who work on the railways could be forced out of work because of an engineer strike.

VIA Rail spokesperson Julie Bellisimo told CTV.ca that she "couldn't say at this point" if non-union workers would be laid off for the duration of the strike.

Union members have been without a contract since 2006. Workers are fighting for improved benefits, wages and two consecutive days off.

Bellisimo said the two sides continue to negotiate but would not say how far they are from reaching an agreement.

"Both parties are at the table and are committed to staying there until at least the end of the week," she said. "We're hopeful there will be a resolution."

A federal mediator has been appointed to try and help both sides reach an agreement and avoid any job action.

With files from CTV Toronto's Dana Levenson