Overview | |
---|---|
Reporting mark | BERX |
Locale | New England, New York |
Dates of operation | 2023–Present |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Other | |
Website | https://panamsouthern.com/ |
The Berkshire and Eastern Railroad (reporting mark BERX) [1] is a shortline railroad in New England and New York, using tracks owned by Pan Am Southern. Pan Am Southern is jointly owned by CSX Transportation (CSXT) and Norfolk Southern Railway (NS). [2] [1]
Following CSXT's purchase of Pan Am Systems, CSXT and NS chose Genesee & Wyoming (GWI) to operate Pan Am Southern. GWI, in turn, selected its Pittsburg and Shawmut Railroad (PSR) subsidiary to operate Pan Am Southern. PSR — doing business as Berkshire & Eastern — will operate, maintain, and market the Pan Am Southern freight rail lines previously operated by Pan Am Railways. [2]
Surface Transportation Board approval of the formation and operation of B&E was contingent on the Board's approval of CSXT's purchase of Pan Am Systems. [1] The Board approved the CSXT–Pan Am deal on April 14, 2022. [3] B&E began operating Pan Am Southern on September 1, 2023. [4]
CSX Transportation, known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles (34,000 km) of track, it is the leading subsidiary of CSX Corporation, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.
CSX Corporation is an American holding company focused on rail transportation and real estate in North America, among other industries. The company was established in 1980 as part of the Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries merger. The various railroads of the former Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries that are now owned by CSX Corporation were eventually merged into a single line in 1986 and it became known as CSX Transportation. CSX Corporation currently has a number of subsidiaries beyond CSX Transportation. Previously based in Richmond, Virginia after the merger, the corporation moved its headquarters to Jacksonville, Florida, in 2003. CSX is a Fortune 500 company.
Pan Am Systems was a privately held Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based Florida corporation composed of rail transport, manufacturing and energy, transportation related brands, and real estate divisions. It formerly held a now-defunct airline division.
Pan Am Railways, Inc. (PAR) is a subsidiary of CSX Corporation that operates Class II regional railroads covering northern New England from Mattawamkeag, Maine, to Rotterdam Junction, New York. Pan Am Railways is primarily made up of former Class II regional railroads such as Boston and Maine Corporation, Maine Central Railroad Company, Portland Terminal Company, and Springfield Terminal Railway Company. It was formerly known as Guilford Transportation Industries and was also known as Guilford Rail System. Guilford bought the name, colors, and logo of Pan American World Airways in 1998.
Eastern Alabama Railway, LLC is one of many short line railroad companies owned by Genesee & Wyoming, Inc. On November 26, 1990, the line was sold by CSX to the Eastern Alabama Railway, a subsidiary of Kyle Railways. Kyle Railways later sold the EARY to RailAmerica in 2002 and RailAmerica was acquired by Genesee & Wyoming in 2012.
The North Carolina and Virginia Railroad is a short-line railroad operating in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Virginia. Formed in 1987 to operate a CSX Transportation branch, the NCVA operates 56 miles (90 km) of track. It is a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming. The company primarily hauls steel, grain, and chemicals, and reported 25,000 carloads hauled in 2008.
The York Railway is a shortline railroad operating 48 miles (77 km) of track in and near York, Pennsylvania. YRC was acquired by Genesee & Wyoming in 2002, has a capacity of 286,000, and has three interchanges: CSX ; East Penn Railroad ; Norfolk Southern.
The Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad is a Class II railroad operating in New York and Pennsylvania.
The Meridian and Bigbee Railroad was a Class III railroad that operates over 168 miles (270 km) of track between Meridian, Mississippi and Burkville, Alabama. Additionally, the M&B had trackage rights over CSX from Burkville to Montgomery, Alabama. MNBR used to operate with a 286,000-pound railcar loading capacity.
The Connecticut Southern Railroad is a 90-mile (140 km) long short-line railroad operating in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The company was formed in 1996 as a spinoff of Conrail by shortline holding company RailTex and subsequently acquired in 2000 by RailAmerica. Since 2012, it has been a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming. CSO is headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, site of its Hartford Yard. The company also operates East Hartford Yard.
The Rochester and Southern Railroad, a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc., is a class III shortline that runs from the city of Rochester in Monroe County to Silver Springs, NY. The RSR started in 1986, when the B&O sold off its Buffalo and Rochester branches. The trackage was purchased by Genesee & Wyoming Inc., and split into two railroads, the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad and the Rochester and Southern Railroad. The Rochester branch was scrapped from Silver Springs south to Machias, New York.
The East Tennessee Railway, L.P. is a short line railroad connecting CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway in Johnson City, Tennessee. Since 2005, the railroad has been owned by Genesee and Wyoming, an international operator of short line railroads, as part of its Rail Link group. The railroad uses a single diesel locomotive, SW1200 #214, to serve a small number of industries and a transloading facility, as well as to provide interchange services between NS and CSX.
The Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern Railroad is a short line railroad offering service from Tolleston, Indiana to Crestline, Ohio, United States over the former Fort Wayne Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It began operations in 2004 as a division of the Central Railroad of Indianapolis (CERA), under the overall corporate ownership of RailAmerica. CFE operates 273 miles (439 km) of rail leased from CSX.
The Carolina Piedmont Railroad is a class III railroad and subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. operating in the Upstate region of South Carolina. From an interchange with CSX Transportation at Laurens the railroad runs 34 miles (55 km) to the northwest, terminating at East Greenville.
Pan Am Southern, LLC is a freight railroad jointly owned by Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) and CSX Corporation. PAS is independently operated by the Berkshire and Eastern Railroad, a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming. PAS owns trackage known as the Patriot Corridor between Albany, New York, and the Boston, Massachusetts, area, utilizing rail lines formerly owned by the Fitchburg Railroad and later on the Boston and Maine Railroad. It was previously operated by PAR subsidiary Springfield Terminal Railway.
The Southern Ontario Railway is a shortline railroad in the province of Ontario, owned and operated by Genesee & Wyoming Canada Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. It operated 69 miles (111 km) of track from Brantford to Nanticoke, Ontario, from 1998 to 2018. The railroad began operations in 1998, and was acquired by RailAmerica two years later. It had interchanges with the Canadian National Railway at Hamilton via trackage rights, Brantford and Paris, and interchanges with the Canadian Pacific Railway at Hamilton.
The South Carolina Central Railroad is a class III railroad that operates 42 miles (68 km) of former CSX Transportation trackage in South Carolina. Originally a RailTex subsidiary upon its start in 1987, the railroad passed to RailAmerica following their acquisition of RailTex in 2000 and passed to the Genesee & Wyoming Railroad upon its acquisition of RailAmerica.
Genesee & Wyoming will operate and maintain Pan Am Southern under a new subsidiary, Berkshire & Eastern.