(Bloomberg News circulated the following on April 6, 2011.)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Corp. (CSX) “can’t be part of” President Barack Obama’s rail vision because passenger trains don’t make money and high-speed trains don’t belong on freight tracks, Chief Executive Officer Michael Ward said.
“I’m a corporation. I exist to make money, OK?” Ward said today in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York office. “You can’t make money hauling passengers, so why would I want to do that? That wouldn’t be fair to my shareholders.” CSX is the third-largest major freight railroad in the U.S. by revenue.
If CSX were to advocate for high-speed rail, he said, “it’s then ‘why aren’t you donating part of your infrastructure to that?’ which I can’t do and be true to my obligation to my shareholders.”
The full story is on the Bloomberg website.