This website has been archived from TrainWeb.org/eastpenn to TrainWeb.US/eastpenn.

OCS SCHEDULES (repeated from yesterday)

Conrail's OCS will be taking an East Coast whirlwind tour over the next two weeks.  The trip departs Altoona, PA next Tuesday April 14 for Philadelphia.  Departure from Philadelphia on Thursday April 16 will see the train operated to interchange with CSXT at Baltimore, then CSXT to West Palm Beach, FL.  We are waiting on the CSXT version of the schedule before posting those operations.  The train returns to Conrail on April 19 and continues on a huge circle trip via Selkirk and Buffalo, NY.  Click HERE to see the Conrail side of the schedule.  - Kevin Burkholder

SHORT LINE CUSTOMERS TO GAIN FROM CN/IC DEAL

Canadian National's merger with Illinois Central Corporation will generate new rail industry competition and extend the market reach of shippers using CN-IC and connecting short-line and regional railways, says CN President and Chief Executive Officer Paul M. Tellier.

"This merger promotes choice," Tellier told the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association. "It will provide new single-line service capabilities" from the Atlantic, to the Pacific and to the Gulf of Mexico, and      give U.S. shippers better access to Canadian markets and products.

Tellier noted that the deregulation of the U.S. rail industry in 1980 has served customers well. The industry, while not perfect today, has become more competitive, rates have declined consistently, rail service and rail safety have improved, and railways have recaptured some of the traffic lost to other forms of transport.

Rail industry deregulation in the U.S. has also spawned the development of vibrant short-line and regional railways, said Tellier, who vowed that CN-IC will expend considerable time and effort to make short lines and regional railways key partners in the merger.

CN's merger with IC is subject to approval by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, and Tellier said he is optimistic that the transaction "will be seen by the STB as a combination that couples strength to strength."

Tellier said rapidly growing north-south continental trade is requiring CN to re-invent itself, and "for CN that means merging the east-west axis of our history with the north-south axis of our future."

Across the continent, north-south traffic is growing at about 11 per cent annually, compared with a four per cent growth rate for east-west traffic.

Tellier said the structure of the merged CN-IC network positions the two partners to offer shippers new, more efficient access to new markets.

"The CN-IC merger is the perfect fit at the perfect time," he said. "The perfect fit because the networks do not overlap . . . The perfect time because of the strong growth in north-south traffic.

"The merger is about growing the pie, not cutting it. It's about extending the competitive reach of all customers on the CN and IC networks."

CN is the most improved railway in North America, while IC is the most efficient Class 1 carrier, he said. Together, the railways will share best practices for the benefit of all shippers, and to ensure that happens, IC's former chief executive officer, E. Hunter Harrison, has joined CN as Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer.

Tellier said the CN-IC merger would offer U.S. shippers a range of benefits; it would:
 

• Give grain shippers in the U.S. Midwest single-line service to Western Canada to meet growing livestock feed demand;
 
• Offer auto manufacturers in Michigan single-line routing to St. Louis, Memphis, Jackson, Miss., and New Orleans;
 
• Give intermodal shippers new competitive options to expand their markets. Furniture manufacturers in Jackson and Memphis would have single-line access to customers in Canada;
 
• Provide Gulf producers of chemicals and plastics better access to markets in Eastern Canada and the U.S. Northeast;
 
• Allow purchasers and suppliers of forest products to choose from more locations for originating, distributing and treating products and materials.  Southern U.S. lumber producers would have better access to distribution centres in the U.S. Midwest, U.S. Northeast and Canada.  They would also have single-line access to treatment facilities in Michigan.

Tellier said CN-IC would not only have U.S. Class 1 railways connections at the Chicago gateway, but also at St. Louis, Memphis, Jackson, Baton Rouge, La., and New Orleans.

"The merger . . . means that, together, CN and IC possess the potential to better manage traffic that passes through Chicago. This may help avoid congestion and delays."

Tellier said CN and IC would connect with 50 short-line and regional railways and plan to work closely with them to offer their customers new market opportunities on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border.

Short lines and regional railways are a growing segment of the rail industry that has been key to winning back business from trucks in many areas, he said.

"CN and our customers have benefited from the local focus and attention to service of the short lines that connect with us. The opportunities we see in this merger very much include participation of short-line and regional carriers."

Tellier noted that CN has been a leader in helping establish the short-line railway industry in Canada. Since 1986, CN has sold almost 6,400 kilometres (4,000 miles) of track to short-line operators. In 1997 alone, CN concluded transaction that established four short-line railways with combined routes of 1,960 kilometres (1,255 miles). That brought to 24 the number of short-line rail carriers created from CN's network, Tellier said, "and we're very proud of the fact that every one of these lines has been successful." -Canadian National

Please check this location daily, as new information will be posted, as it becomes available. If you have news to report or information regarding railroads in the Eastern United States, please send e-mail to Kevin Burkholder at KBurkholder@psghs.edu