29 January 2005
Canadian Pacific
Cutting 30 Jobs Here
Buffalo New York
- Federal rail regulators have given the green flag for Canadian Pacific Railway to stop running
trains on a competitor's tracks between Buffalo and Binghamton. The action is part of a swap of
operations between the Canadian company and Norfolk Southern, which owns the tracks. Norfolk Southern
will deliver freight to CP customers on the line.
The Canadian Pacific's action will eliminate about 30 jobs in Buffalo's SK yard, according to union
estimates. CP said it didn't know how many jobs may be affected, but hopes to transfer workers to
openings elsewhere in its system.
"We don't want to give up on people with experience," spokesman Paul Thurston said.
The ruling by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board came last week over union objections.
The United Transportation Union will appeal the ruling while negotiating with Canadian Pacific for
protections for affected workers, said Samuel J. Nasca, state legislative director.
"This is not the word we were hoping for," he said.
The operations to be dropped involve a Canadian Pacific subsidiary called the Delaware & Hudson
Railway, or D&H.
The rail union had argued that dropping D&H's "trackage rights" on the route will mean
less competition. But the transportation board said that D&H will continue to serve customers on
the line through haulage agreements with Norfolk Southern, which will deliver freight.
The swap of operations will result in fewer yardmaster and maintenance jobs as well as engineers and
conductors, Nasca said.
The ruling starts a 90-day clock for the implementation of Canadian Pacific's plan, he
said. If talks stall, an arbitrated decision will result.
Thurston said CP hopes to implement the move 1 Mar 2005.
D&H traffic had dropped to one train daily in each direction on the Buffalo-Binghamton
line, making it uneconomical to continue, the ruling said.
"The area's local shippers, who will continue to be served through the trackage rights, have not
expressed any concerns or opposition to the new arrangements," the ruling states.
The D&H's right to use the track, along with its switching privileges in Buffalo, grew out of a
1970 plan to provide competition to then-dominant Conrail in parts of the Northeast.
When Conrail was split by Norfolk Southern and CSX in 1998, the D&H role was reduced, the ruling
said.
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