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APRIL 15, 1998 |
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EASTERN RAILROAD NEWS
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Conrail's OCS will be taking an East Coast whirlwind tour over the next two weeks. The trip departed Altoona, PA last night for Philadelphia. Departure from Philadelphia on Thursday April 16 will see the train operated to interchange with CSXT at Baltimore, then operate via CSXT to Miami, FL. The train departs Miami, FL on April 18 and heads north to a Baltimore, MD interchange with Conrail. The train returns to Conrail on April 19 and is now returning to Altoona without making the previously scheduled trip to Selkirk, Buffalo, and Conway. Click HERE to see the ENTIRE schedule. - Kevin Burkholder
Wick Moorman, the technology master at Norfolk Southern Corp., is well on his way to making his computers talk with those at Conrail Inc., the target of a railroad takeover.
Although federal regulators won't decide until this summer whether to approve a $10 billion plan by Norfolk Southern and CSX Corp. to buy and carve up Conrail, Moorman already has spent a full year preparing for such a merger.
Elsewhere, hundreds of teams at Virginia-based Norfolk Southern and CSX are busily advising shippers about new services, constructing signals and track connections and figuring out how to divide Conrail memorabilia such as clocks and locomotive replicas.
Such preliminary planning has always been integral to the tasks of combining railroads. But Norfolk Southern and CSX officials say the efforts have intensified out of a desire to avoid service and safety problems that followed recent mergers in the West and the Midwest.
``We know the spotlight is upon us,'' said Moorman, Norfolk Southern's vice president for information technology.
Company executives refused to dwell on the possibility of the federal Surface Transportation Board rejecting the deal or imposing enough conditions to make it unworthy of completing. If that happens, all the time and money being spent now would be for naught.
``Sure there's a risk, a big risk,'' said J. Randall Evans, CSX vice president for acquisition development. ``We have already bought the stock and borrowed a little more than $4 billion. There's a big risk out there, but ... there's a lot of work that needs to be done.''
Norfolk Southern paid $5.9 billion and CSX spent $4.3 billion to buy Philadelphia-based Conrail. The companies have placed the Conrail stock into a joint voting trust pending regulatory approval, meaning they control the stock but do not manage Conrail.
The transition teams at CSX and Norfolk Southern have a working target of Sept. 1, 10 days after the earliest date that regulators could let the deal close. But both companies said they were willing to let the date slip if necessary to ensure a smoother transition.
While past railroad mergers largely involved combining routes and eliminating duplicate operations, the Conrail deal would let CSX and Norfolk Southern expand into new territories. And some areas would be jointly run by both companies, presenting special challenges.
``It will require a transportation system that's not really part of the revenue process but will have to do something,'' Moorman said. ``It's not a huge issue but it's not normal. The computers will need to be modified.''
Moorman has about 250
people assigned to the computer preparations. The tasks include figuring
out how to convert Conrail data on billing, dispatching and payroll into
a format that the new companies' computers
will be able to understand.
Evans said the companies have held informal talks with the Western railroads to assess what went right and what went wrong. The companies also are trying to negotiate implementation plans with their labor unions and have reached tentative deals with the two largest.
``We want to make sure the local implementation agreements are in place so that on the day things get split, there's no doubt which two guys work for which railroad,'' Evans said. ``The last thing we want is consternation and confusion on Day One.''
For now, the companies are prohibited by law from making managerial and operational decisions at Conrail and cannot sell future freight service on Conrail routes, meaning sales teams can only talk about improvements and changes to come.
The Conrail deal, if approved, would leave two giant railroads controlling virtually all rail traffic in the East. The rail networks would span nearly 45,000 miles from Montreal to Miami and from Boston to Kansas City.
The regulatory board is scheduled to hear oral arguments on June 4 and vote on June 8. It plans to release its written decision in late July and allow the deal, if approved, to take effect Aug. 22. -via Stan Feldman
MONTREAL, April 14, 1998 - Canadian National's 5,820 unionized operating employees in Canada have ratified a three-year collective agreement that includes ground-breaking pension plan improvements, better benefits and wage increases.
The pension plan changes
negotiated by CN and the Canadian Council of Railway Operating Unions provide
for:
The agreement, retroactive to Jan. 1, 1998, provides for wage increases of two per cent annually.
The agreement includes improvements to benefit, dental and extended health care plans.
The company, after consulting the council, will implement "gain-sharing" programs. Gain-sharing is a variable pay system under which the company will share with employees financial gains resulting in improved corporate performance in areas such as costs or train performance. As well, unionized operating employees will be able to participate in CN's Employee Share Investment Plan. The plan permits employees to buy CN shares through payroll deductions of up to six per cent of base salary.
Tentative collective agreements covering about 5,200 employees represented by the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, the Rail Canada Traffic Controllers and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers remain subject to ratification.
CN is in conciliation with the Canadian Auto Workers union, which represents about 6,400 clerical, shopcraft and independent contractors.
CN expects to conclude negotiations soon with the Canadian National Railways Police Association. The CNRPA has about 70 members. -Canadian National
VRE and the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department will conduct an emergency preparedness drill this Saturday, April 18 from 7am to Noon. The training drill will simulate a railway accident involving a passenger vehicle and a passenger train. This drill is designed to hone the skills of fire and rescue personnel in the handling of a large-scale incident.
VRE is looking for approximately 30-35 volunteer patients to act as people needing emergency treatment. Most of the "victims" will be triaged and treated for minor injuries (walking wounded) but 11 will actually take a short ambulance ride, and one or two will get a quick helicopter ride. If you are interested in participating in this exercise, please register with VRE by Friday April 17, by calling (703) 684-1001.
Let the VRE "Take Your Daughters to Work" -- For Free!
On April 23rd the area schools will be participating in the annual "Take Your Daughters to Work." In support of this great program, the VRE will offer free transportation to children of our working parents on this special day. And, yes, the boys can go, too. Join in on the fun -- give your child the chance to see first hand what Mom and Dad do at the office all day and ride the train too! -Virginia Railway Express
WASHINGTON, April 9, 1998 The first quarter ended strongly for freight railroads in both the United States and Canada, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported today with key rail freight measurements in both countries finishing the quarter ahead of last year's first thirteen weeks.
In the U.S., carload freight totaled 4,502,876 carloads after 13 weeks, up 2.1 percent from last year's first 13 weeks. Intermodal volume was up 1.9 percent to 2,149,418 trailers and containers. Total volume was estimated at 352.3 billion ton-miles, up 2.8 percent from 1997. U.S. railroads are coming off a record year in terms of both ton-mileage and intermodal volume.
The first quarter was particularly strong for loadings of motor vehicles and equipment (up 12.4 percent from 1997's first 13 weeks); nonmetallic minerals (up 11.0 percent); metals and products (up 10.7 percent); and coal (up 2.9 percent). There was continued weakness in the agricultural sector, with grain loadings off 7.8 percent for the quarter.
For just the week ended April 4, carload freight totaled 350,131, up 4.7 percent from the corresponding week last year, with loadings up 7.9 percent in the East and 1.6 percent in the West. Intermodal volume climbed to 175,207 trailers and containers, up 10.8 percent from last year. Total volume was estimated at 27.1 billion ton-miles, up 5.0 percent from the comparable 1997 week.
Railroads reporting to AAR account for nearly 93 percent of U.S. carload freight and 98 percent of rail intermodal volume. Railroads provide about 40 percent of the nation's intercity freight transportation, more than any other mode, and rail traffic figures are regarded as an important economic indicator.
Canadian railroads also reported gains during the first quarter, with carload freight rising 4.3 percent to 716,804 cars and intermodal volume increasing 3.9 percent to 326,233 trailers and containers. Sharp gains were reported in the quarter for loadings farm products other than grain (up 50.6 percent from last year's first 13 weeks); lumber and wood products (up 20.7 percent); and coal (up 13.7 percent). Grain loadings were off 4.2 percent and grain mill products declined 26.7 percent.
For just the week ended April 4, Canada's two nationwide railroads reported carload volume of 56,877 cars, up 6.8 percent from last year; and 26,978 trailers and containers, up 4.4 percent.
Combined cumulative volume for 13 weeks of 1998 on 19 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 5,219,680 carloads, up 2.4 percent from last year's first 13 weeks, and 2,475,651 trailers and containers, up 2.2 percent from last year. -Association of American Railroads
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 |