STB sets procedural schedule for proposed NS/Delaware & Hudson line transaction

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has adopted a procedural schedule for Norfolk Southern Corp.'s petition to acquire control of 282.5 miles of Delaware & Hudson Railway (D&H) track from Canadian Pacific.

Any person who wants to participate in the proceeding as a party of record must file with the STB no later than Dec. 29. All comments, protests, requests for conditions, and any other evidence and argument in opposition to the primary application and related filings must be filed by Jan. 15, 2015; all responses to comments, protests, requests for conditions, other opposition and rebuttals in support of the primary application or related filings must be submitted by March 31, 2015.

The STB expects to render a final decision on the transaction no later than May 15, 2015.

"The board finds that the application is complete and that the control transaction is a minor transaction based upon the preliminary determination that transaction clearly will not have any anti-competitive effects," STB members said in a decision. "The board makes this preliminary determination based on the evidence presented in the application and the record to date. The board emphasizes that this is not a final determination, and may be rebutted by subsequent filings and evidence submitted into the record for this proceeding."

NS in November announced plans to acquire the D&H line between Sunbury, Pa., and Schenectady, N.Y., from CP for $217 million. CP would retain ownership of D&H's line from Montreal to Albany, N.Y.

The southern portion of D&H's lines connect with NS' network in Sunbury and Binghamton, N.Y., and would provide the Class I single-line routes from Chicago and the southeastern U.S. to Albany and its recently built intermodal terminal in Mechanicville, N.Y. NS also would gain an enhanced connection to its joint venture subsidiary Pan Am Southern, which serves New England markets, and acquire D&H's car shop in Binghamton.