FORT WORTH, Texas — More than two-thirds of the staff of Amtrak’s local station has been laid off through the railroad’s package of cost-cutting measures, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
The ailing national passenger rail line, which is asking Congress for $1.2 billion to stay afloat, projected a $285 million budget shortfall this year.
To save money, officials cut about 200 staff positions nationwide last month. Fort Worth’s staff was slashed from 10 to three, said Kathleen Cantillon, an Amtrak spokeswoman in Chicago. That meant scaling back operation hours at the station, which are now from 12:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. The station is at 1501 Jones St.
“We needed to do some cost cutting,” Cantillon said. “Amtrak has a budget shortfall … and had to eliminate about 200 station positions nationwide. That included some positions in Fort Worth.
“We had to reduce the station staff, and that impacts the hours the station is open,” she said. “We’re doing everything possible not to impact customer service.”
The layoffs are the latest development in a series of crises for the railway, which has gotten more than $25 billion in federal aid since it began in 1971.
This year, Amtrak officials said they needed $1.2 billion from the federal government to stay afloat, or they might have to shut down more than a dozen train routes, includ- ing one that runs through Fort Worth.
“I have expressed my concern to the president of Amtrak about these layoffs and their threat to cut long-haul routes rather than taking an evenhanded approach that protects the entire system,” said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
“I’ve made it very clear to colleagues and to Amtrak that any assistance package for Amtrak must be distributed nationwide so that passenger rail becomes viable for all travelers, not just those in the Northeast corridor.”
Amtrak officials have said that as many as 18 long-distance routes could be eliminated in October, but they did not specify which routes are at risk. Texas officials have said they fear the worst because the Texas Eagle has been threatened before.
Fort Worth almost lost Amtrak service in 1997, when Congress tried to kill the Texas Eagle route. In 2000, officials reversed course, expanding the line from four times a week to daily service.
The Texas Eagle runs from San Antonio in the south to Fort Worth and Dallas; east to Texarkana; then northeast to Little Rock, Ark.; and then north to Chicago.
“This [the layoffs] is a move in the wrong direction,” Mayor Kenneth Barr said. “I hope Congress can be persuaded to fund Amtrak at a level that will enable it to operate.
“These cuts are going on all across the country. It’s the wrong time for that. Post-Sept. 11, many people have realized we need a balanced transportation system in this country so we are not as dependent on air service. To cut back on Amtrak at this time makes no sense at all.”
The local layoffs are part of the 1,000 jobs – about 4 percent of the Amtrak work force – that the company announced this year that it would cut.
Other cost-saving measures include cuts in hiring, training, advertising and supplies.
“There is a budget shortfall for the existing year because of the increased cost of security since Sept. 11, the recession and the increased interest cost on our debt,” Cantillon said. “We’ve been making cost-cutting measures ever since.”