The seven largest freight railroads trimmed 642 positions from their combined U.S. workforce in December, for the first reduction since August, but ended 2010 with 5.23 percent more employees than at the end of 2009.
The Class I carriers told the STB their biggest workforce gains of 2010 came in the largest job category of train and engine crews, which increased 9.21 percent to 62,067. Track maintenance employment grew 6.03 percent from December 2009 to 34,614.
The full story is on the Journal of Commerce website.