12 February 2005
Railroad Row All But
Over
The Seda-Council
of Governments (COG) Joint Rail Authority (JRA) completed a deal it believes will close an ongoing
situation that included rail giant Norfolk Southern and Canadian Pacific's access to certain rails.
The agreement would continue to allow local shippers to use Canadian Pacific to transport over lines
owned by Norfolk Southern in the Sunbury region, but there will be limits on new customers using those
lines, according to local shipper and JRA board member Dennis Shaffer. "It protects, for the
most part, the existing business that's been developed by the CP rail", Shaffer said.
There were 14 main points to the proposed settlement, to which Norfolk Southern still must agree. When
asked if it appeared if the settlement would be agreed to by Norfolk Southern, Shaffer said he
believed so. "I hope so", Shaffer said when asked if it appeared that this chapter was about
to be closed. "It appears that this is the best we're going to do".
According to information provided by Jeff Stover, executive director of the JRA, approximately 80
percent of traffic that interchanged with Canadian Pacific in 2004 in Sunbury will continue to be
received. Twenty-three shippers used Canadian Pacific services last year, according to
Stover.
Among other areas of interest included in the 14 keys to the agreement were the waiving of penalties
that would have been charged to rail operator Richard Robey by Norfolk Southern, reduced rates for
Norfolk Southern on specific tracks and a continued annual audit of traffic to update a routing guide
annually.
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