On March 23, short-line holding company Transtar Inc. became a wholly owned subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based USX Corp., which produces oil, natural gas and steel products, and owns several transportation companies. The companies finalized an October 2000 reorganization-and-exchange agreement after receiving Surface Transportation Board approval and antitrust clearances.
As a result, 84-mile Birmingham Southern Railroad Co., 186-mile Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Co., 23-mile Lake Terminal Railroad Co., 15-mile McKeesport Connecting Railroad Co., 144-mile Union Railroad Co., Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co. and its subsidiary Mobile River Terminal Co. Inc., and Tracks, Traffic and Management Services Inc. now are part of USX Corp.
Under agreement terms, newly formed Transtar Holdings, an affiliate of New York City-based private investment bank The Blackstone Group, now owns other former Transtar subsidiaries 355-mile Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad Co., 450-mile Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway Co., Pittsburgh & Conneaut Dock Co., and USS Great Lakes Fleet Inc.
The pact also stipulates that Thomas Sterling, named Transtar Inc. president in August 2000, would continue in that position.
The reorganization was designed to enable USX Corp. and Transtar Holdings officials to follow independent strategies; Transtar officials believe service will not be affected by the reorganization.
Source: Progressive Railroading Daily News
