Here are other excerpts from the CSX filing of 4/26/21 re: planned traffic changes over PAS ("Northern Route" and CSX/B&A line ("Southern Line"). In addition to removing 22K/23K from the Northern Route, CSX:
....will interchange certain carload traffic moving to/from Ayer shippers at Rotterdam, NY to run over the Northern Route for a transitional period. This traffic currently moves on the Southern Route through Worcester, MA. CSXT expects that the carloads that are diverted from the Southern Route to the Northern Route will be handled in existing PAS trains, so the traffic diversions will not cause any increase in train counts on the Northern Route, but they will result in a decrease in carload traffic moving over the Southern Route, including over the line segment that traverses the Wachusett Reservoir.
Re: post transaction ton-miles on the 2 routes:
...The gross ton-miles per year on the Northern Route will be reduced by the diversion of the pair of NSR intermodal/automotive trains to the Southern Route. However, that reduction will be offset to some extent by an
increase in gross ton miles per year on the Northern Route resulting from CSXT’s diversion of traffic from the Southern Route to the Northern Route...
...The gross ton-miles per year on the Southern Route will be increased by the diversion of the NSR intermodal/automotive train pair from the Northern Route. However, that increase in gross ton-miles will be offset
to some extent by the reduction of gross ton-miles per year from the CSXT traffic that will be diverted from the Southern Route to the Northern Route, as discussed above. The net effect will be an increase in gross ton-miles per year on the Southern Route
Re: the Worcester Main track around the Wachusett Reservoir:
As an initial step, CSXT plans to upgrade approximately 7.6 miles of track adjacent to the Wachusett Reservoir to FRA Class 3 track standards. [ Elsewhere, CSXT plans to restore the PAR System mainline track conditions from FRA Class 1 to FRA Class 2 track standards.]
Re: the NS Albany Main connection to the CSX Selkirk Branch at Voorheesville:
...the two lines at issue are the NSR line between Delanson, NY, and Schenectady, NY, and the CSXT line between Rotterdam Jct., NY, and Voorheesville, NY. Those two lines already exist, and they are shown on the map attached as Attachment 4 to this letter. As seen in the map, the two lines meet at Voorheesville, although today there is not an active connection. In addition, a connection between the two lines previously existed and the tracks used to make the connection remain in place, although the connecting track needs to be rehabilitated to support train movements. Authority to abandon the connecting track was not previously sought or granted by the STB or its predecessor. To reconnect the two lines and reestablish the connection, NSR will simply need to upgrade the existing NSR-owned track leading to the CSXT track in Voorheesville and rehabilitate the existing connecting tracks. CSXT will
need to install a new turnout [a powered #15 turnout rated at 30mph max speed (per Wikipedia)] at the point of the connection.
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