There's a lot of opportunity in New England and the Capital Region."

The partnership "gets Norfolk Southern into the New England market, which is something we've been trying to do since we acquired 58 percent of Conrail," Husband said. "There's a lot of opportunity in New England and the Capital Region."
CSX officials could not be reached Tuesday for comment. And calls to Pan Am Railways over two days weren't returned.
The partnership could be good news for Saratoga and Schenectady counties. Norfolk Southern is seeking to lure freight from the highways with its intermodal trains, where truck trailers travel on flat cars. With a shortage of truck drivers and diesel prices nearing $4.80 a gallon, Husband said a high-speed rail corridor could compete.
A study last year by the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization projected that highways in Massachusetts would carry 222 million tons of freight by 2010, compared to 20 million tons for railroads. The figures were projected to climb to 265 million tons on the highways by 2020, compared to 25 million tons on the rails.

But railroads have successfully competed with trucks elsewhere.

CSX and Union Pacific Railroad teamed up in October 2006 to operate an express produce train for Railex LLC once a week between Washington state and Rotterdam. A second train, carrying California produce to the Capital Region, is expected to operate beginning this fall, when construction of a new terminal in Kern County, Calif., is completed. Railex also plans to operate a second train from Washington state, officials have said.