Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-03-09
Your rain to New York
Is Definitely in Trouble


to New York from a point north
OF Washington.
But while the trains are
carrying vastly more passengers
than the airlines and buses. the
number Of rail travellers keeps
decreasing while the number Of
bus and air travellers rises.
The total number Of riders
going to New York by train
bus, air and private Car keeps
rising steadily, making the
Washington-New York route
the most heavily Travelled in the
country. with the possible ex-
ception of the Los Angeles-Sar
Francisco route.
Unless there's some action by
the Government, say the rail-
road men, the deterioratine
railroad passenger picture can
get only worse.
Sees Rail Service Dying
Frank Barton, counsel Of the
Senate Commerce Surface
Transportation Subcommittee,
which has been holding hear
ings on the railroad problem,
says bluntly: II think railroad
passenger service will die in the
next few years"
Mr.. Barton says the railroads
haven't kept up with the times,
and haven't met competition.
"The railroads." he says, "get
to think there's something sac
rosanct about themselves; they
have an ingrained feeling that
amounts almost to reverence
for the railroads. They're at
tached to their ways and find
1t difficult to do anything new"
Buses, he continues, have
been providing very low-cost
service; the airlines have been
giving better service with only
one fare increase since 1897.
But, he adds, it's the automo-
bile and the super highway that
have given the coup de grace to
the railways.
Meanwhile, the two railroads
taking more than $4,000 pas
sengers a day from Washing
ton to New York want to cut
back their service.
B&O Wants to Drop 6 Trains
The Baltimore & Ohio now
has applications pending to
discontinue its six daily trains
to New York completely. The
BIO is able to go as far as
Jersey City, there transferring
its passengers to buses for the
haul to downtown New York.
The Pennsylvania, which
carries more than IS per cent
OF the passengers between here
and New York. recently reduced
the number of its daily trains
from 80 to 81. It operated "a
trains a day on the route in
1853.
Pennsylvania President James
n. Symes says "the trend is
that we will continue to get
out Of the passenger business. I"
This isn't going to happen
overnight. Of course. But within
six to eight years, Mr.. Symes
expects the 81 million miles OF
track in the Pennsy System to
drop to IS or IA million miles
He adds: IF we continue the
reduction Of passenger train
miles that has taken place since
World War II, we would be
entirely out Of the passenger
business in 1867. But we are
not going to go that rapidly"
Pennsy's Profits Decline
What this will mean to the
service between Washington
and New York. Mr.. Symes won't
say. He thinks there will be
some service along the Eastern
Eeaboard.
Looking to the future Of the
passenger business. I don't think
that the long-haul business Is
going to be with us too long.
BY long-haul I mean more
than strictly an overnight trip
or a distance of 800 to 400 miles.
! think we are going to have
o certain amount Of short dis
tanceS between metropolitan
areas"
why does Pennsy want to
reduce its service? It explains
It can't make any money carry
ing passengers.
Mr.. Symes says that except
for the war years. when pas
sengers didn't care what kind
Of service was provided as long
as they got from here to there,
the Pennsylvania Railroad has
lost millions of dollars on its
passenger service.
In 1857, for instance, the
Pennsylvania received an aver
age Of $3.50 per passenger mile.
Mr.. Symes says, while it costs
the road $3.50 per passenger
mile. Last year, he reports, his
railroad lost $54 million on its
passenger service.
Terminal, Track Costs Cited
Yet, says Mr.. Symes, just
reducing the number Of trains
carrying passengers won't solve
the roads problem. 1t still
must pay the costs of terminals,
tracks and other such perma-
nent equipment. He explains it
this way:
IF we took of trains, we
would actually only save
somewhere around $3.50 to SIS
per passenger mile because you
would only save on fuel, main
tenance and certain direct
charges such as wages.
However, ! am also sure
that If we were entirely out of
the passenger train business
that we would more than save
that $3.50 on the fuel cost.
THE reason for that is
you could realize millions Of
dollars from the sale Of prop
as.kNs that a. SaAvr, ssea1 eAInl~, &c..