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Amtrak looking for more employees to keep up with ridership rise

By blackwell Thomas, The Southern

Wednesday, September 12, 2007 10:24 AM CDT

CARBONDALE - Amtrak is making a hiring push to meet the needs of its growing ridership a company spokesman said Tuesday.

Marc Magliari said the company is looking for more conductors and onboard service people. The addition of two new daily routes - the Saluki and Illini - between Carbondale and Chicago has helped fuel ridership growth and the resulting need for additional staff, said Magliari.

"Certainly, when you add trains you frequently have to add staff," he said. "We'll be hiring a class of conductors this fall of between 30 to 50 new conductors in Chicago alone."

According to numbers on Amtrak's Web site, about 115,000 more people took the train in 2006 in Illinois than in 2005. The company announced Monday that between October of 2006 and last July, ridership on Carbondale-based routes is up 45 percent.

Magliari said, in addition to the increased demand, Amtrak officials are looking for new employees because they expect a large portion of their workforce to retire in the next few years.

"There was a lot of hiring in the 70s and 80s as the company took over other services," he said. "Those people have been working for in many cases 30 years or more and are eligible for retirement. People go into this industry work their way up to shifts and jobs they like and stay put."

blackwell.thomas@thesouthern.com

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