(The Associated Press circulated the following on September 22, 2009.)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Railroad has laid off 127 employees.
The Anchorage Daily News and television station KTUU says Pat Gamble, the railroad’s president, sent an e-mail to employees Tuesday. In it, he says 127 funded positions have been laid off.
Gamble adds this does not, by itself, solve the railroad’s financial problems.
A message left by The Associated Press with the railroad Tuesday was not immediately returned.
Officials had earlier estimated a 20 percent cut in its work force. It has about 700 year-round employees and hires another 100 on a seasonal basis.
The railroad is dealing with declining revenues because of a drop in tourism and reduced production at the Flint Hills petroleum refinery. More than a third of the railroad’s revenue comes from transporting products from the North Pole refinery.