News In Brief

US proposes to expedite sale of Conrail system

Congress was told Wednesday that the Transportation Department will do all it can ''to return Conrail to the private sector fully and quickly,'' by hastening its analysis of the 14 offers made for the federally owned freight railroad.

''No one is well served by an indefinite period of suspense about who will ultimately own Conrail,'' Jim Burnley, deputy secretary of transportation told a Senate subcommittee.

The states served by Conrail are losing more than $20 million a year in taxes because the railroad is owned by the government, he said.