CSX: Rail bill “not balanced”

CSX: Rail bill “not balanced”

CSX: Rail bill “not balanced”

   CSX Corp. Chief Executive Officer Michael Ward said a Senate bill introduced in December that proposes changes in federal rail regulation “is not balanced.
   'It contains dramatic and negative changes and laws that were designed to allow freight rail to be sustained,” Ward said, speaking during a telephone call with Wall Street financial analysts to discuss the company’s quarterly earnings.
   Ward said the Surface Transportation Board reauthorization bill, S. 2889, “as currently written, fundamentally changes the government's approach to freight rail access and pricing by adding requirements at increasing government involvement in the day-to-day operations of trains. That is a recipe for real problems and many requirements are not yet fully defined.”

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   He said the bill would potentially impact the company’s ability to invest for the future and increase day-to-day involvement by the STB in railroad service levels and other areas.
   He also expressed concern about plans to add a provision that would eliminate antitrust protections for railroads, saying that would subject railroads to a “dual regulatory environment,” under both STB and the Justice Department, and perhaps and state attorneys general.

Ward

   Ward said if adopted, the bill would have a negative impact on revenues, but did not give an estimate on how large that might be, saying many aspects of the bill would require STB rulemaking and “until we get some better specificity from them I think it's difficult to gauge.”
   He vowed CSX would “work diligently with the Senate staff to forge a balanced regulatory approach” and “rails have a mission, to bring real benefit to customers, the environment, the public and our investors. The proposed legislation would sharply undercut our ability to achieve those missions.”
   Ward also noted expressed concern about other federal regulations, noting $200 million in 2010 “will be diverted from other worthy capital improvements in order to meet unfunded federal mandates including the implementation of positive train control,” though he said the company would comply with the positive train control mandate and is committed to its implementation.
   Positive train control is technology aimed at preventing accidents such as train-to-train collisions, overspeed derailments, and casualties or injuries to roadway workers, and preventing train movements through a switch left in the wrong position. In October, President Bush signed a law mandating widespread installation of PTC systems by December 2015.
   For more information about the bill and shippers' response, read American Shipper's February cover story, available online in PDF form Jan. 26. ' Chris Dupin