Freight railway giant CSX Corp., in a bid to get its proposed acquisition of Pan Am Railways back on track, has filed an expanded application for approval with the federal regulator scrutinizing the deal.
Merging the companies would expand Florida-based CSX’s presence in Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut and allow it to expand into northern New England.
But the Surface Transportation Board, which oversees freight railroads, in May kicked back a previous application from CSX and Billerica-based Pan Am, saying they needed to provide a broader analysis of the Northeast’s freight rail market.
The acquisition plan, meanwhile, has come under fire from Amtrak and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, which are concerned that CSX control of Pan Am’s system would undermine passenger rail service in the region. Amtrak and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority share tracks with freight operations.
The proposed buyout, announced Nov. 30, would give CSX access to the nearly 1,200 miles of track in Pan Am’s system and another 600-plus in a joint venture known as Pan Am Southern.
In a statement Friday, after CDX filed a revised application with the Surface Transportation Board, chief executive James Foote said the deal would seamlessly integrate the New England rail network controlled by Pan Am into CSX’s national system. Foote said that would create “single line service” for industrial customers in the region and provide them with an environmentally friendly alternative to trucks.
CSX said it attempted to address all the questions the regulator had in May. For example, it provided an analysis of how the merger could affect several commodities shipped via rail in New England, such as lumber, liquefied petroleum gas and propane, bottled water, and limestone.
Over the past several months, CSX has lined up more than 80 letters of support from industrial customers, politicians, and business groups. The consensus among the supporters: A CSX investment in Pan Am would bring about significant capital improvements for a rail system that badly needs them and replace trucks on highways with greener trains. CSX officials also point to efforts over the years that they have taken in New England to accommodate passenger rail expansion, such as CSX’s exit of the Beacon Park Yard in Allston.
CSX pledged there would be no interference with passenger service, in part because the projected growth in freight traffic on the lines is relatively minimal at 1.5 percent a year.
Amtrak officials aren’t so sure about that, in part because they have expansion plans of their own for New England that include new passenger trains between Concord, N.H., and Boston and between Albany, N.Y., and Boston.
Amtrak is also engaged in a spat with CSX in the Gulf Coast region about how best to revive rail service between Mobile, Ala., and New Orleans. The national rail service has warned the Surface Transportation Board that a similar situation could play out in New England if the CSX-Pan Am acquisition is allowed to proceed, possibly endangering any efforts to expand passenger service.
Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jonchesto.
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July 03, 2021 at 01:47AM
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CSX tries to get its plan to acquire New England freight network back on track - BetaBoston
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