Norfolk Southern buys stake in rail line to boost Capital Region businessERIC ANDERSON -- Times Union -- May 21, 2008Norfolk Southern Railway Co. is buying a 50 percent stake in a historic rail line linking Mechanicville and Ayer, Mass., outside Boston, in a bid to boost service in the Capital Region and New England.
As part of an agreement with the current owner, Pan Am Railways, the 155-mile line will undergo $87.5 million in improvements, including new track and signals. In all, Norfolk, Va.-based Norfolk Southern will pay $140 million for its share of the line, which has been dubbed the Patriot Corridor.The deal includes another 281 miles of connecting track, including trackage rights. A new company, Pan Am Southern, will own the track. North Billerica, Mass.-based Pan Am Railways -- the former Guilford Transportation Co. -- will have an equal stake with Norfolk Southern in the newly created entity.
"We have identified the Capital Region as being an area that certainly is in need of some new facilities," said Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband. "We've cobbled together a service we operate over Canadian Pacific lines between Binghamton and the Albany area.
"We hope we're going to bring a higher level of competition to the Capital Region," he added.
With the breakup of Conrail in 1999, CSX Transportation took over its tracks in the Capital Region and New England. Norfolk Southern, meanwhile, got Conrail's Southern Tier route through Binghamton, Elmira and Jamestown.
As part of an agreement with the current owner, Pan Am Railways, the 155-mile line will undergo $87.5 million in improvements, including new track and signals. In all, Norfolk, Va.-based Norfolk Southern will pay $140 million for its share of the line, which has been dubbed the Patriot Corridor.The deal includes another 281 miles of connecting track, including trackage rights. A new company, Pan Am Southern, will own the track. North Billerica, Mass.-based Pan Am Railways -- the former Guilford Transportation Co. -- will have an equal stake with Norfolk Southern in the newly created entity.
"We have identified the Capital Region as being an area that certainly is in need of some new facilities," said Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband. "We've cobbled together a service we operate over Canadian Pacific lines between Binghamton and the Albany area.
"We hope we're going to bring a higher level of competition to the Capital Region," he added.
With the breakup of Conrail in 1999, CSX Transportation took over its tracks in the Capital Region and New England. Norfolk Southern, meanwhile, got Conrail's Southern Tier route through Binghamton, Elmira and Jamestown.
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