Trainsmag.com just reported that Amtrak has been slowly rehiring maintence workers who were laid off earlier this year from its car shops in Beech Grove, Ind., near Indianapolis, and Bear, Del., near Wilmington, as Amtrak President David L. Gunn moves toward getting the railroad's car fleet in a state of good repair.At Beech Grove, where 228 workers were laid off, about 45 have returned to work as the facility begins attacking the backlog of wreck-damaged cars. The railroad plans to hire back 180 workers by early next year, Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., told the Associated Press.
At Bear, which lost 178 to layoffs, abot 50 workers have been recalled.
"We will be hiring more at both locations, incrementally, over the next several weeks and possibly months," said Amtrak spokesman Clifford Black.
Bear maintains and overhauls Amfleet equipment used on the Northeast Corridor and elsewhere. The additional workers will help accelerate the rate of overhauls.
Beech Grove will begin repairing wreck-damaged cars incrementally, as money becomes available, Black said. Amtrak is hoping to ease its chronic car-supply problems - particularly of Superliner equipment used on long-distance trains - by reparing wreck-damaged cars that have sat at Beech Grove for years, earning no revenue.
Although Amtrak revenue is down compared with last year at this time, money saved by cost-cutting across the system is being transferred into maintenance and engineering projects, Black said.
Some of the savings have come from a reduced marketing budget and eliminating 700 jobs in both management and labor ranks, he said.
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