(The following story by Brian Kelly appeared on the Watertown Daily Times website on June 26, 2010.)
WATERTOWN, N.Y. — CSX Transportation Inc. wants to reduce its daily rail service through the north country to two or three days a week.
North country economic development specialists said they fear that the plan, if approved, would affect users along the so-called Massena Line, which runs from Syracuse to Huntingdon, Quebec. It also would eliminate 14 CSX jobs along the run.
“This is an extremely important issue for Northern New York, because many of our businesses depend on rail,” said Wade A. Davis, executive director of the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority. “It would be understating the matter to say it’s of significant concern.”
Donald C. Alexander, chief executive officer of the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency, said businesses and industries looking to locate in the area frequently ask about the availability of rail service and he is concerned about any potential reduction in the services available.
Patrick J. Kelly, deputy chief executive officer of the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency, said there already is a perception that the county is “hard to get to” because it lacks a four-lane highway running through it, and reducing rail service could increase that perception for companies.
“There’s a limited number of ways to bring product into and out of Northern New York, and reducing the operational capacity of one of the primary modes of infrastructure is not going to be helpful,” he said.
Mr. Davis said his agency “will continue to monitor the situation and will respond accordingly.”
“Where freight flows, prosperity follows,” he said. “Reduced rail service results in economic penalties.”
If the plan is approved, CSX indicates it will run a “shuttle” train between Syracuse and Massena “on a two to three days per week basis.” The company said it will “continue to provide service to all shippers located on the Massena Line,” and local trains that serve customers along the line will continue to operate as they do now.
Jerome M. Hebda, vice president of Vermont Rail System, which operates the OBPA-owned New York and Ogdensburg Railway between Ogdensburg and Norfolk, said he has been told by CSX that local service should not be affected by the proposed change.
“We’ve been assured by CSX that there will be no degradation in service,” he said.
In its application, CSX also says there will be no change in rail service to Fort Drum. Julie A. Cupernall, a spokeswoman for the base, said Fort Drum’s Department of Logistics confirmed that the change would have “no impact” on military operations.
CSX and Delaware & Hudson Railway Co., a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific, have applied to the federal Surface Transportation Board for regulatory approval of a joint-use agreement for rail lines that run between New York City and Rouses Point, at the international border with Canada.
CSX operates a north-south rail between Manhattan and Albany. Delaware & Hudson operates a line between Albany and Rouses Point. Sharing the lines would save fuel and time, according to the application.
CSX also operates a line from Selkirk, near Albany, to Syracuse, where it meets up with the Massena Line. From Syracuse, the line passes through Watertown, Fort Drum and Massena, ending at Huntingdon, where a line operated by Canadian National Railway Co. connects with Montreal, about 33 miles away.
For CSX, moving trains along the line from Albany to the Canadian border, rather than along the Massena Line, would reduce its one-way transit miles between Selkirk and Montreal by 35 percent, from 403 miles to 261 miles. It also would reduce over-the-road transit times by 45 percent, from about 29 hours to about 16 hours. The company estimates the switch will save it about $280,000 annually.
According to the application, local freight is shuttled on a daily basis between Syracuse and Massena in the same trains that handle “overhead traffic for interchange,” or through traffic that is meeting up with the CN line in Quebec. Other movements to or from customer facilities are handled by CSX local trains.
With the reduction in traffic on the Massena Line, CSX projects it will abolish 14 jobs if the plan is approved. According to the plan, three engineers and three conductors will be eliminated between Syracuse and Watertown; three of each position will be eliminated between Syracuse and Massena, and an engineer and conductor position will be eliminated between Massena and Huntingdon.
The Surface Transportation Board is scheduled to make a decision on CSX’s and Delaware & Hudson’s shared use application Oct. 22. If approved, the agreement would become effective Nov. 21.