Amtrak warns of a new round of job cuts as it cuts rail service amid a stubbornly slow recovery and said it does not plan to ask Congress for enough money to keep jobs.
A rail network executive wrote to employees that he planned to travel most long-distance routes less frequently, which would save the rail network $ 150 million in costs. CNN obtained a copy of the message.
Executive Vice President Roger Harris did not quantify the job losses, but said the company "will work quickly to determine the reductions or layoffs."
Passenger rail is not planning to ask Congress for additional funding to save these jobs, nor the 20% company-wide authorizations announced in May, spokesperson Kimberly Woods told CNN on Tuesday.
Amtrak has requested more than $ 3.5 billion from Congress this year, including a special request of $ 1.47 billion to help cover costs and losses related to coronaviruses.
Woods said Amtrak is "in the planning stages" and has not determined whether the layoffs at long distance will add to the 20% cuts.
In the memo, Harris wrote: "Congress will not support us indefinitely to run mostly empty trains. We must demonstrate that we use our resources efficiently and responsibly. "
Amtrak's 15 long-distance routes span the 2,400-mile California Zephyr line from Chicago to the San Francisco area. It used this route - and another route - daily, but plans to reduce service on most routes to three times a week.
"As the economy begins to reopen, demand remains down over 70%," Woods told CNN. "We anticipate a slow recovery and expect system-wide ridership in FY 21 to be half of what it was in 2019."
Employee unions seek help from Congress: Amtrak employee unions, however, are calling on Congress to intervene to save these jobs. On Friday, a coalition of 14 unions wrote to Congress to demand $ 350 million from Amtrak to prevent the layoffs.
They warned that the railway line "will use the pandemic as an excuse to permanently and artificially downsize, eliminate or reduce routes and on-board or other customer service, or replace Amtrak employees on leave by subcontractors ".
Amtrak recently turned 49 and said that before the pandemic, he was on the right track for his profitable first year.