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11/15/2021
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Friday announced plans to hold three public hearings in first-quarter 2022 on major rail industry cases.
The board has scheduled a hearing Jan. 13 on CSX’s revised application to acquire control of Pan Am Systems Inc. and its subsidiaries. In late 2020, CSX reached an agreement to purchase the Class II railroad based in North Billerica, Massachusetts, from Pan Am Systems in a deal estimated at $700 million.
Landing the largest U.S. regional would be the Class I’s biggest acquisition since the Conrail split with Norfolk Southern Railway in 1999. For more information on the planned acquisition, read this cover story in Progressive Railroading’s October issue.
The STB also scheduled a hearing Feb. 15 concerning Amtrak’s application for an order requiring CSX and NS to allow Amtrak to operate its trains on the Class Is’ lines between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama. On Oct. 15, the board issued a decision extending the application’s procedural schedule and setting a due date of Dec. 30 for proposals on the hearing format. Read more about the ongoing case here.
Finally, the STB will hold a hearing March 15-16 regarding the reciprocal switching regulations the board proposed in 2016. A notice of proposed rulemaking on the matter generated divergent responses from a variety of stakeholders, STB officials said in a press release. And since the notice was issued and written comments were received, there have been significant changes in and affecting the freight-rail industry, they added.
“Commenters may now have additional or modified views on the effects of and/or need for the proposed regulations,” STB officials said. “Interested persons are invited and encouraged to engage in this public hearing to address these issues and any other matters relevant to this proceeding.”