HOLLISTER --  The pro-posed closing of the Southern Pacific's office here is drawing fire from public agencies and private businesses.
The City Council was notified earlier this week that SP planned to close up shop in Hollister April 22.
The operation would be moved to Gilroy.
There isn't enough business to justify keeping the operation going if it can as easily be handled in Gilroy, the SP says.
As a result, the State Public Utilities Commission has been notified of the planned closing.
An SP spokesman said the change is one of many steps the railroad is taking to provide service at the lowest possible cost to users and to increase

operation efficiency.
For San Benito County res-idents and businesses, the discontinuance of the agency does  not engender a feeling that greater efficiency will result.
Agencies, including the Cham-ber of Commerce, the Board of Supervisors, and several private companies have already sent protests to the state PUC, and, in the works, are protests from the city, the canneries and numerous other agencies.
The trains would still come in and out of Hollister, carrying an estimated 2,500 carloads of canned goods, frozen food, paper, bell peppers, asphalt, onions, garlic, sand, and even beer - 500 carloads worth - every year.