Amtrak to Furlough Over 2,000 Staff Amidst Coronavirus Pandemic

Amtrak, the operator of most of the United States’ passenger rail services, said it will lay off 10% of its workforce, or over 2,000 employees, as the decline in travel due to the coronavirus pandemic shows no sign of relenting.

The railroad cited a “slow recovery of ridership and revenue“ in a statement.

Ridership has fallen over 95% since March and the railroad received over $1 billion in federal funds from Congress and now maintains it requires $1.4 billion more.

Details of the job cuts were announced in an internal memorandum that was viewed by Frequent Business Traveler.

The cuts will take effect October 1 as the railroad begins its new fiscal year.

One hundred of the furloughed employees will be non-unionized managers, while 1,950 will be from its unionized workforce.  The final number could vary plus-or-minus 2%, the memo said.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)