In a major retreat after pressure from Congress, the Postal Service announced today that it has dropped plans to close several thousand money-losing rural mail stations. Reduced hours are expected for more than 13,000 rural facilities to offset the cost of keeping all of them open.

Update at 6:15 p.m. ET: The Postal Service has posted a 260-page list of post offices where hours will be cut. It includes current retail operations andproposed reduced hours.

In addition to reducing hours, the Postal Service will seek to offset the cost of keeping all rural facilities open by offering $20,000 buyouts to about 21,000 postmasters, Chief Operating Officer Megan Brennan said at today's news conference, the Federal Times reports.

In many cases, full-time employees will be replaced with cheaper part-timers. Postmasters who stay at offices with reduced hours "will be 'downgraded' by a reduction in force in 2014," the Federal Times writes.

The National League of Postmasters has more details.

Last July the Postal Service announced plans to shut about 3,700 post offices — most in rural areas — that did little business.

Consumer watchdog Ralph Nader says that reducing hours and eliminating postmasters does not guarantee that rural post offices will be kept open.

"In fact, by further restricting Post Office hours the Postmaster General makes the 'alternatives' to the U.S. Postal Service all the more attractive and sets the stage for future Post Office closings when the revenues and workload of reduced-hours offices inevitably suffer," Nader said in a statement.

He added that the plan's math does not add up.

"The Postal Regulatory Commission Chairwoman Ruth Goldway has stated that the U.S. Postal Service's plan to close up to 3,652 postal facilities would save, at most, $100 million. Yet the U.S. Postal Service expects to save five times that by reducing hours and slashing jobs? Those numbers simply don't add up," he said

He noted the USPS had previously stated during a postal hearing that it would save $1 billion from closing up to 3,652 facilities, later revising the estimated maximum savings at $200 million.

Original post by Natalie DiBlasio:

The Postal Service has dropped plans to close thousands of the nation's rural post offices, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said today.

Under the new plan, subject to public comment and regulatory approvals, more than 13,000 rural mail facilities could see reduced operations trimmed to between two and six hours per day, Donahoe said.

The new strategy would take two years to complete and save an estimated half billion dollars annually, he said.

"This is just part of the way there. ... America needs a strong postal service," Donahoe said.

He said the plan is flexible: some of the 13,000 post offices might avoid trimmed hours if they prefer one or more alternatives:

-- Closing the post office and opting for a delivery service in areas that currently do not have door-to-door delivery.

-- Creating a "village post office," where the post office would be run out of a local business.

-- Merging the local post office with another nearby post office.

The Postal Service will seek regulatory approval and get community input, a process that could take several months, Donahoe said.

"The post offices in rural America will remain open unless a community has a strong preference for one of the other options," said Postal Service Chief Operating Officer Megan Brennan.