
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 15, 1994                   TAG: 9412150076
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

5,500 TO LOSE JOBS IN AMTRAK CUTS

Amtrak, hemorrhaging red ink and faced with a possible cut in its federal subsidy, announced Wednesday it was scuttling more than a fifth of its service and firing 5,500 workers.

Officials of the passenger railroad said they would begin reducing the frequency of some routes Feb. 1 and start eliminating others two months later.

``In the past, we have tried to be every place all the time,'' Amtrak President Thomas M. Downs said during a news conference to announce the cuts. But he said ``rail passenger services can't afford that anymore ... in a rapidly changing transportation environment.''

In recent years, cheaper airline tickets resulting from frequent fare wars have cut deeply into the passenger bases of both intercity trains and buses. Amtrak is still a serious competitor with airlines in its busy Northeast corridor, but limited service in other areas and the time it takes to travel long distances by rail have taken their toll.

``The railroads need to go where the customers want to go, and, where they don't want to go, service doesn't need to exist,'' Downs said.

He said Amtrak could no longer afford to serve 530 stations.

Amtrak officials, faced with tens of millions of dollars in losses annually, have sought more money from Congress for capital investments. Amtrak has always depended heavily on federal subsidies - $952 million this year - but has faced mounting pressure to reduce them.

AMTRAK FACTS

Some facts about Amtrak, the nation's intercity passenger rail service:

Number of stations: 530.

Number of states served: 45 (exceptions are Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Oklahoma and South Dakota).

Number of route miles: 25,000.

Number of employees: 24,000.

Number of passengers carried: 22 million a year.

Number of daily trains: 230, including 18 long-distance trains.

Fleet: 271 diesel locomotives, 65 electric locomotives, 1,852 passenger cars (including 374 inherited when Amtrak took over other services). Average age of fleet is 22.4 years including the inherited equipment and 15.1 years excluding it.

by CNB