(The following story by Bob Withers was published in the January 4 issue of the Herald-Dispatch.)
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — CSX Transportation has furloughed 106 train service employees at various points along its C&O Division in the past four weeks, a railroad spokesperson confirmed Friday.
Most of the layoffs occurred in Huntington; Russell, Ky.; and along coalfield branches in Eastern Kentucky and Southern West Virginia. That leaves a little more than 200 engineers and 275 train service employees — including conductors, brakemen and yard foremen — working on the C&O Division, which encompasses branch lines along with main tracks from Toledo and Columbus through Russell and Huntington to Clifton Forge, Va., and Newport News, Va.
“It happens about this time every year to one extent or another,” CSXT’s Misty Skipper said. “After the fall peak in coal loadings, business traditionally slows down around the first of the year. It’s also due to a lack of people taking vacations this time of year.”
Skipper was at a loss to explain why the layoffs came at a time when rival carrier Norfolk Southern hired 23 conductor trainees in Huntington and Portsmouth, Ohio, last month.
“We can’t comment on why Norfolk Southern is hiring,” Skipper said. “We are responding to our business needs and current work loads.”
NS’s Susan Bland likewise declined to explain the difference.
“You’ll need to talk to CSX about their business decisions,” she said. “We serve different markets and have different needs.”
Bland did say that the 15 people in Huntington and the eight people in Ports-mouth, Ohio, who were hired by her company are the result of “a range of diagnostic tools” that try to look ahead.
“We hire based on our needs for the future,” she said.