Union says CSX plans up to 1,062 furloughs; rail staff down 1,264 in a year
CSX furloughs in its maintenance-of-way workforce could reach 1,062 employees, a union says, with the railroad’s rail headcount in June already 1,264 below a year earlier.
The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED), part of the Teamsters, said on September 11 that CSX had informed it of the plan. BMWED represents the workers who inspect and repair track, bridges and other railroad structures.
What the union says CSX is planning
According to BMWED, about 900 of the projected furloughs involve its members on system gangs. The union does not expect those gangs back at work until late February. The union also lists 165 permanently abolished positions but does not say whether they overlap with the furloughs. It says CSX will also close several headquarters.
At one location, BMWED says, staffing would fall from 12 employees to four. Those four would still cover 142 miles of main line plus several yards.
The union says the plan also reduces planned maintenance and defers capital work. Railway Supply found no public statement from CSX on the plan as of September 20.
BMWED General Chairman Brian Thompson said the workload does not shrink with the crews:
“The work does not disappear. The miles still have to be inspected, the defects still have to be repaired and the railroad still has to be maintained.”
CSX’s rail workforce is already smaller
CSX’s second-quarter financial report lists an estimated 20,046 rail employees at the end of June 2026, compared with 21,310 a year earlier. The quarterly average fell by 1,237 to 20,063.
Labor and fringe costs still rose by $40 million year on year. Higher incentive pay and inflation outweighed a $48 million saving that CSX linked mainly to lower headcount.
Set against the end-June rail workforce, 1,062 furloughs would equal about 5% of CSX rail employees. This is a Railway Supply calculation that compares the union’s projection with the company’s own count.
| Quarter end | Rail employees | Change from a year earlier |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 31, 2024 | 21,574 | n/a |
| Mar 31, 2025 | 21,384 | n/a |
| Jun 30, 2025 | 21,310 | n/a |
| Dec 31, 2025 | 20,845 | −729 |
| Mar 31, 2026 | 20,177 | −1,207 |
| Jun 30, 2026 | 20,046 | −1,264 |
Each quarter-end count shown is lower than the one before it. Between the end of 2024 and the end of June 2026, CSX’s rail workforce shrank by 1,528 employees.
Estimated end-of-quarter counts reported by CSX; the rail figures exclude the company’s trucking business. September 30, 2025 is not shown. n/a: no year-earlier comparison in the reports used. The 1,528 figure is a Railway Supply calculation (21,574 minus 20,046).
Sources: CSX quarterly financial reports for the fourth quarter of 2025, the first quarter of 2026 and the second quarter of 2026.
Record revenue, lower capital spending
The plan surfaced seven weeks after CSX reported second-quarter revenue of $3.94 billion, which the company called a quarterly record. Revenue was up 10% year on year, operating income rose 17% to $1.51 billion, and volume grew 6%.
In its second-quarter earnings presentation, CSX kept its outlook for 2026 capital expenditures at less than $2.4 billion. First-half property additions came to $1,119 million, against $1,495 million a year earlier. The 2025 figure included about $295 million for rebuilding the Blue Ridge subdivision after Hurricane Helene. Excluding that rebuild, first-half spending fell from $1,200 million to $1,119 million.
BMWED plans to take the cuts to regulators
BMWED says it will take its safety concerns about the cuts to Congress, the Federal Railroad Administration and the Surface Transportation Board. It also plans to log deferred work, staffing gaps and heavier workloads on CSX.
Union Pacific’s 2023 gang cuts
The union made a similar case to the Surface Transportation Board in 2023. In an October 27, 2023 letter, BMWED said Union Pacific was preparing to lay off about 1,350 maintenance-of-way employees. A Union Pacific email attached to the letter blamed budget overruns for pushing projects into 2024. It said most jobs would be re-posted in mid-December for an early January start.
Union Pacific replied on October 30, 2023 that the changes concerned its capital program, not ongoing maintenance. It said it did not expect significant furloughs, if any. By BMWED’s account, the CSX system gangs are not expected back before late February.
