Friday morning rail news related to the coronavirus outbreak:
— Some commuter rail agencies are seeing reduced ridership in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, with significant drops on New York City’s rail system. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has seen an 18.65% decrease in subway ridership compared to a year ago, Politico reports, along with a drop of nearly 50% in Metro-North Railroad morning commuter traffic Thursday and a 31% drop on the Long Island Rail Road. Driving is also down, with a 7% decrease in traffic via the bridges and tunnels operated by the MTA. Elsewhere, NJ Transit has seen a drop of approximately 20% in bus and train ridership, the New York Times reports, with similar drops on PATH trains. And a Metra spokeswoman told the Chicago Sun-Times that conductors are reporting a slight decrease, although no numbers are available.
— As of today, Amtrak will reduce frequencies on its Keystone Service between New York and Harrisburg, Pa., offering nine round trips daily. The modified schedule, which will not include service to the Ardmore, Pa., station, otherwise reflects the special schedule used for severe weather or other service disruptions. Normal weekday service includes 15 westbound trains and 14 eastbound. Amtrak had told employees in a Wednesday email that some service cuts were likely because of declining ridership during the Covid-19 outbreak [see “Amtrak warns of significant service cuts as ridership drops,” Trains News Wire, March 12, 2020].
— VIA Rail Canada is stocking masks at stations and on trains as part of its efforts to address coronavirus concerns, the passenger railroad says in a press release. The masks will be prioritized for passengers showing symptoms of illness. Antiviral producs such as hand sanitizer are also available. VIA says it continues to operate all trains “but this could change as the situation evolves.”
— Canadian National’s annual stockholders meeting will be held solely as a webcast to address coronavirus concerns, the railroad has announced. The event is scheduled for April 28, 2020; meeting information as well as the company’s annual report should be available to stockholders at the CN website on or about March 24.
I fully expect telecommuting to become the new normal. Why travel to an office when you can work from home? It eliminates the need for an expensive office foot print so that is a win for companies.