Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-15
BIO Bid 10 Cut
East Coast Run
Is Up 10 States
Rood Seeks to Drop
Passenger Service
Due to Big Losses

A proposal of the Baltimore
& Ohio Railroad to drop all
passenger service between
Washington and New York
was in the hands of State
regulatory bodies today.
If these commissions APP
prove, a total of IA passenger
trains serving the populous
seaboard are doomed to extinc-
ton. leaving only the Penn
sylvania to haul rail passengers.
BIO Washington Baltimore
comlnuter service would con-
tinue.
BIOS unexpected announce
ment came late yesterday with
a statement that the road is
losing about IS million a year
because passengers along the
route have declined 46 per cent
since 1916.
Comes as Surprise
The announcement caught
everyone, including the Inter-
state Commerce Commission
and the Association of Ameri-
can Railroads, by surprise.
But neither is directly involved,
since the ICC does not deal
with train schedules, but only
with fares and safety regula-
tons.
The final decision will rest
with the regulatory commits
sions of Maryland, Delaware
and Pennsylvania. to whom the
BIO addressed its petitions.
No date has been set by the
Maryland Public Service Com
mission for a hearing. The
commissioners will meet next
week to discuss procedure.
Although it is usual for
States to handle railroad cases
individually, because of the
public interest involved in this
one there is some possibility
that Maryland will unite with
the Pennsylvania and Delaware
commissions for a joint hear
ing. Chairman Stanford Hoff
of the Maryland group said.
Westward Trains Stay
Passenger trains operating
between Baltimore and the
West would continue. Eight of
these trains continue to Jersey
City under present schedules.
Four others operate between
Jersey City and Washington.
New York-bound passengers
are carried from Jersey City by
ferry and bus.
Two other trains running
between Washington, Baltimore
and Philadelphia also would be
abandoned under the order.
The BIO blamed the deci-
sion on ever-expanding COM
petition starting with the auto
mobile era. Now autos account
for more than 80 per cent of
all inter-city travel and soon
the Baltimore Harbor tunnel
will make such travel more adj
vantageous.
Airlines operate 81 round
trips a day between Washing
ton and New York. while the
Pennsylvania runs 20 trains a
day each way and bus lines so
round trips daily, the BIO
said.
Sc Best Year Since '43
The railroads president,
Howard E. Simpson. said that
for every dollar of revenue
received from operation of the
trains, over $40 is paid out in
direct expenses.
Last year the BIO had its
best year since 1943 with a net
income of $50 million. The road
earned $18 million during the
first nine months Of 1857 COM
pared with $21 million in the
same period last year.
Last year the Pennsylvania
and New York Central, who
recently announced an interest
in merging, asked the ICC for
a As per cent increase in first
rate passenger fares. They were
granted Is per cent.
Some rail unions charged the
railroads with deliberately at
tempting to destroy the passen-
ger business to eliminate a
deficit item. One point made
at rate hearings was that ade-
quate passenger service was re-