The railroads used to have over 500,000 workers working on them in 1980. Over the past four decades, they have slashed and burned and gutted that workforce down to around 130. The seven main rail carriers have collectively laid off or furloughed or eliminated over 30% of their collective workforce since 2015 alone. This wasn't COVID. This is a deliberate corporate policy that railroaders call the cult of the operating ratio.