KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Union Pacific's decision to transfer switching operations away from Neff Yard will lead to at least 200 people losing their jobs and far fewer trains going in and out of the once-popular freight train hub in Kansas City, Missouri.
A union representative who spoke to 41 Action News said many employees were bracing for updates on layoffs this week.
The decades-old tracks at Neff Yard mostly sat empty on Wednesday.
According to Model Railroad News Editor Tony Cook, that wasn't always the case.
“It was always an instrumental yard as far as moving traffic,” Cook said. “We’re just kind of a natural point for everything to go in every direction.”
With the site serving as a staging and hump yard, Cook said Neff Yard helped disperse trains that carried all sorts of products and materials to other states, but he saw a diminishing role for the yard as the railroad industry evolved.
“Today, things are more point-to-point unit trains,” he said. “You don’t have that same sorting process being done anymore.”
Union Pacific said operations will be transferred to the rail yard at 18th Street and Armourdale in Kansas City, Kansas.
The company said in a statement it “continues to streamline operations” and the decision “will improve operating efficiencies.”
Union Pacific added that the company will continue to deliver rail cars to customers near Neff Yard and some employees will still report to the site.
