by markhb
I'm thinking that CSX and PAR fully anticipated the reclassification. My guess is that they filed as a Minor transaction because they knew that if they filed as Significant the STB would never roll it back to Minor, whereas if they filed as Minor they had a shot at it staying that way. I can't imagine that CSX would walk away from a 9-figure transaction (that probably has payback terms in case it doesn't go through) because the STB wants them to file a 1040-A rather than 1040-EZ.
A couple of folks here have called it "major". It's not; Major is when Class I's start buying each other. The note the STB had on their homepage the other day said that the CP-KCS deal is the first Major transaction to knock on their door in 20 years.
So far as competitive concerns in Maine go, we have exactly 2 meaningful rail lines going into New Hampshire: the PAR line the Downeaster uses, and the SLR / old Grand Trunk way up north. There are two others, one being the dead MEC Mountain Division and the other the branch in Kittery that only comes as far as the Naval Shipyard down there. Anything else we have is headed for Canada, and in fact the SLR is most useful for traffic heading that way since it's so far north. So, there isn't a ton of rail competition available now and Maine customers will really have the same CSX/PAS choice they've had for years.
A couple of folks here have called it "major". It's not; Major is when Class I's start buying each other. The note the STB had on their homepage the other day said that the CP-KCS deal is the first Major transaction to knock on their door in 20 years.
So far as competitive concerns in Maine go, we have exactly 2 meaningful rail lines going into New Hampshire: the PAR line the Downeaster uses, and the SLR / old Grand Trunk way up north. There are two others, one being the dead MEC Mountain Division and the other the branch in Kittery that only comes as far as the Naval Shipyard down there. Anything else we have is headed for Canada, and in fact the SLR is most useful for traffic heading that way since it's so far north. So, there isn't a ton of rail competition available now and Maine customers will really have the same CSX/PAS choice they've had for years.
"...And then I thought, every time some company creates a more powerful locomotive does Superman become more powerful as well or is he stuck at 1938 locomotive power levels?" - A friend of mine elsewhere
Anything I post here is mine alone and does not represent the views of my employer.
Anything I post here is mine alone and does not represent the views of my employer.