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Progress Energy Inc. plans to keep Progress Rail Services Corp. after all.

The Raleigh, N.C.-based holding company will operate Progress Rail as a going concern, according to Progress Energy’s second-quarter 2001 earnings statement issued July 25.

In January, Progress Energy hired a financial advisor for assistance in evaluating the strategic alternatives available for Progress Rail and MEMCO Barge Lines Inc., which Progress Energy acquired as part of its November 2000 purchase of Florida Progress Corp. On July 23, Progress Energy announced it would sell MEMCO to American Electric Power Co. for $270 million. Progress Energy plans to use the sale proceeds to pay down corporate debt and pay off an off-balance-sheet, on-credit lease.

Albertville, Ala.-based Progress Rail supplies rail, rail anchors and trackwork components, maintenance-of-way equipment, railway signal devices and reconditioned freight car parts. The company also operates rail-car repair facilities, and offers rail-car and locomotive leasing services.