Just When it Seemed Like the Line was Clear, The Department of Justice Throws up a Yellow Signal
26.August, Washington DC – A Comment submitted by the U.S. Department of Justice under STB Docket #36472 conveys the Administration’s explicit distaste for a major part of CSX’s plan for Pan Am Railways, the carefully-crafted proposal for a G&W subsidiary to operate the Pan Am Southern system. The Comment’s very first line cites the 09.July […]
Most of Amtrak's network operates as a tenant on freight railroad tracks.
How was your Amtrak trip? Ask that question and you’ll get an answer that goes “Nice . . . ” followed by a report of an on-time train or a “but . . . ” and the details of what happened instead. On-Time performance is the #1 expectation from rail passengers. This is intuitively obvious, […]
CSX's Wallace responds to STB request for additional information on traffic forecasting in the Revised Application
19.August – CSX filed a response by EVP Mark Wallace to the Board’s request in Decision #4 (30.July.2021) for additional information, to wit: So that the Board can fully evaluate whether the impact of the Merger and Related Transactions would have any potential for environmental impacts warranting environmental review when the PAR System integration has occurred, the […]
President Biden’s 09.July executive order On Promoting Competition in the American Economy targets corporate consolidation and anticompetitive behavior in the freight-rail and ocean shipping industries (among others). In his recent article, One If By Land, Two If By Sea, Manhattan Institute fellow Connor Harris asserts that, regulations that subsidize trucking while raising costs on heavy […]
New England is appropriately deemed “energy hungry,” but we have a lot to choose from on the menu.
Strong resistance to new pipeline construction in New England and downstate New York has been touted as an opportunity to develop a robust LNG-by-rail “virtual pipeline” to bring Marcellus natural gas to “energy starved New England. Despite a 2020 Presidential directive and subsequent USDOT rulemaking to encourage LNG-by-rail to New England, the mode needle has […]
CSX PAR Lines Operating Plan Detail Analysis CSX’s Amended and Supplemented Application (01.July.2021) includes a 60-page Operating Plan, Verified by Jamie Boychuk. It includes a detailed analysis of current PAR System operating characteristics, regional CSX operating characteristics, and a projected synthesis of the two into a CSX regional divisions directly connected to the CSX national […]
The Connect NEC 2035 plan calls for the completion of 150 significant projects over 15 years at cost of $100 billion dollars.
We are glad to feature this excellent report from the CT Examiner reporting on the Connecticut-related elements of the Northeast Corridor Commission’s Connect NEC 2035 plan to undertake 150 vital improvement projects along the Northeast Corridor. Links to Connect NEC 2035: Full Plan, Executive Summary A New Hartford Station, Resolving High-Speed Rail Bypasses, Headline NEC Future Announcement […]
Capital investments that CSXT will make in the currently under-resourced PAR System will contribute to service reliability of all Amtrak routes
Key points of the Verified Statement of Mr. Andy Daly, CSX Senior Director of Passenger Operations, edited from the CSX Amended and Supplemented Application: “[The] Proposed Transaction and the Related Transactions will not produce significant changes to the existing routes, patterns, or types of service for the PAR System, PAS, or CSXT, or redirect existing traffic over those […]
By incorporating Pan Am Systems, CSX is giving its PSR champions a juicy, low-hanging target to drive down O/R and still spare the rest of its already-there network.
Identifying the Real Competition CSX’s prospective acquisition of PAR presents an improvement in practically every aspect of New England’s rail industry. Simply by virtue of being a Class I railroad, they will certainly improve the track, rolling stock, operation, and reliability along every mile of the PAR/PAS network. They will connect New England shippers/receivers to […]
Competition will be enhanced by ensuring the independence and neutrality of PAS from CSXT as a means to reach New England rail shippers
In his Amended and Supplemented Verified Statement, William F. Huneke, former STB Chief Economist and a recognized consulting authority on railroad economics, presents his determination that Berkshire & Eastern (subsidiary of Genesee and Wyoming) will improve and enhance competition on the Pan Am Southern lines, as their dedicated contract operator. For Huneke’s discussion of four […]