CSX has recently proposed to acquire Pan Am Railways. Although, as I explain below, I am usually critical of mergers, I believe this merger will substantially enhance the rail network in New England by bringing the region more directly into the national railroad network.
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has accepted for consideration CSX’s amended and re-filed Pan Am Railways acquisition application, and set a procedural schedule, with a final decision to be rendered April 1, 2022. The proposed merger is also gaining support, CSX reported.
On May 26, The Surface Transportation Board rejected as “incomplete” the merger application filed by CSX Transportation, Inc. to acquire control of Pan Am Systems, Inc. and its short line railroad subsidiaries. CSX on July 1 submitted an “amended and supplemented application” to the STB, stating that the refreshed application “provides all of the additional details of the proposed transaction requested by the STB.”
The U.S. Surface Transportation Board has ruled the CSX-Pan Am merger transaction a “significant” one subject to more formal review, along with a 10-month time clock on a final decision.
The Vermont Rail System (VRS) has opposed CSX’s acquisition of the Pan Am System in a filing with the Surface Transportation Board.
CSX is submitting an application to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to acquire the Pan Am System, including Pan Am Railways (PAR) and its 50% stake in Pan Am Southern (PAS), the Class I railroad reported Feb. 26.
Shades of the battle between CSX and Norfolk Southern that occurred some 25 years ago over Conrail, but on a smaller scale: CSX is in negotiations to acquire Pan Am Railways, the 1,700-mile Class II previously known as the Guilford Rail System, itself the amalgamation of the Boston & Maine, Maine Central, Portland Terminal Company and Springfield Terminal Railway. NS, in a Nov. 6 filing with the Surface Transportation Board, is opposing the transaction.
An industry observer who spoke with Railway Age on the condition of anonymity said that Pan Am Railways is indeed for sale, with BMO Financial Group handling a transaction for principal owner Tim Mellon, 78, and other investors. Our source, an independent observer, outlined possible courses of action for the New England regional railroad, within the context of what’s going on in the marketplace.
The Springfield Terminal Railway has reached a tentative contract agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.
Pan Am Railways is partnering with port operator DP World and Canada’s Port Saint John on direct intermodal rail service to the U.S. Northeast.
