(The Staunton News Leader posted the following article on its website on October 8.)
STAUNTON, Va. — CSX and the union representing its local track-maintenance employees will square off Wednesday for oral arguments over plans to lease tracks through Staunton and Waynesboro to a small short-line operator from Dillwyn.
The Surface Transportation Board, an arm of the federal Department of Transportation, this week accepted a union request to hear oral arguments, according to an order posted at its Web site. The hearing will take place in Washington, D.C.
The union, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, considers the lease a sham. It has argued in filings that CSX will continue to use the route from Richmond to Clifton Forge while the lease shifts maintenance to a small, inexperienced railroad that now operates just 17 miles of track.
Amtrak, which operates six trains across much of the route each week, expressed similar concerns, saying that maintaining the line to passenger train standards would be a “formidable task” for the tiny operator. The Shenandoah Valley Railroad expressed concerns about how the deal would affect its short-line operation, which interchanges with the CSX line at Staunton.
Under the terms of the proposed agreement, family-owned Buckingham Branch Railroad would maintain the tracks while operating local freight trains to generate more traffic and revenue on the route. CSX would continue to operate empty westbound coal trains daily and Amtrak would continue to operate The Cardinal across 125 miles of the route.
While 14 CSX employees currently maintain the stretch, Buckingham Branch plans to use eight of its own employees and supplement them with contractors as needed.
CSX maintained that oral arguments are not necessary and has said it wants the lease to become effective by year’s end. It said the effort is the result of a nationwide review of its 23,000-mile rail system.