"The choice for Applicants is clear – present a truly competitive alternative, or face rejection of the application."
27.August, Montpelier VT – Vermont DOT (Vtrans, representing the State of Vermont) filed a stern Comment in Opposition to the CSX Revised Application to acquire Pan Am Systems. On the same day, Vermont Rail Systems filed their equally indignant Reply in Opposition to Pittsburgh & Shawmut’s (subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming) Petition for Exemption to […]
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 […]
27.August, Washington DC – The deadline for descriptions of anticipated (including inconsistent) responsive applications filing brought a tsunami of filings, including Comments in opposition from the U.S. Department of Justice, Amtrak, State of Vermont (VTrans), Vermont Rail System, and Comments and Request for Conditions from Mass Water Resource Authority (MWRA) and Mass Department of Transportation/MBTA. Opposition […]
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, […]
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 […]
Thanks to Vermont Rail Action Network for providing this posting about expanded bus service between Albany NY and Burlington (Colchester) VT, as the region awaits the restart of Amtrak Ethan Allen service scheduled for January.2022. New Amtrak bus connection twice a day from Albany to Bennington – Manchester – Rutland (transit center) – Middlebury – Vergennes […]
Complete procedural schedule as approved in STB Decision #4 By-date Action 30.July.2021 Effective date of Decision #4 19.August.2021 CSXT supplemental ENVIRONMENTAL information due 20.August.2021 Persons wishing to participate as a Party of Record filing due 27.August.2021 Petitions for waiver or clarification Descriptions of anticipated (including inconsistent) responsive applications filing due 30.August.2021 Applicants’ SAFETY INTEGRATION PLAN filed […]
Going forward, primary document to be called "Revised Application"
STB Decision No. 4 in STB Finance Docket No. 36472; Notice of Acceptance of Application and Related Filings; Issuance of Procedural Schedule. Click to read the Full Decision. Approved Schedule. Click to read the Full Decision, Approved Schedule.
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 […]
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 […]
