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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 19, 1995                   TAG: 9504200047
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CONRAIL MAY DUMP ROUTES

Conrail Inc. might sell or abandon a large part of its marginal Northeastern routes as it shifts investment toward its most profitable and growing lines, a senior executive of the freight railroad said Tuesday.

Charles Marshall, senior vice president for development for Conrail, said in an interview that the company was faced with the ``wonderful problems of growth'' on many of its main lines, such as Chicago to New York.

``Money is scarce,'' he said. ``As a result, we're trying to take scarce money and spend it on the part of the railroad where there is growth.''

The railroad is expected to rid itself of up to 4,000 miles in its system of 11,700 miles of track. Although Marshall said the final cuts would be more modest than that, they would be substantial. He said that the railroad had begun a two- to three-year review of that part of its system in which there had been little or no growth in traffic, to determine whether such lines should be sold to operators of short lines or abandoned.

Conrail in recent months has been mentioned in the rail industry as a likely merger partner with Norfolk Southern Corp., although the companies have declined to comment on the speculation.

After past reviews, Marshall said, the railroad had cut about half the amount of track it had evaluated.

Most of the lines to be cut would be sold to short-haul operators, he said, because little of the system is ripe for abandonment.

He said that the railroad now had only about half the system it inherited from the Penn Central and several other Eastern railroads, which formed the core of Conrail when it was formed with the assistance of a $3.2 billion federal investment.

The government's 85 percent stake in Conrail was sold to the public in 1987. In recent years, the railroad has been reducing staff, cutting costs and spending about a half-billion dollars a year to improve its system.

One of its fastest-expanding businesses has been double stacking truck trailers on rail cars and moving them between major points like St. Louis, Chicago and the Northeast.

He said that Conrail now moves about 5,000 truck trailers a night, double its load of six years ago. Like other freight railroads, Conrail is cooperating with long-haul trucking companies, enabling shippers to get timely delivery and lower rates.

Now most of the carrier's investment is needed on lines that link such centers, he explained, to add track, buy new locomotives, build new rail yards and add new signals.

by CNB