USA: The Surface Transportation Board has approved applications from CSX and Canadian Pacific Kansas City to create a new direct interchange in Alabama by acquiring lines operated by G&W’s Meridian & Bigbee Railroad, eliminating the need for it to serve as an intermediary carrier.
The transaction was announced in June 2023, and the Class I railways submitted applications to the regulator in October 2023. The approval announced by STB on October 17 this year is effective from November 16.
CPKC will acquire and operate the 80 km of MNBR between Meridian, Mississippi, and Myrtlewood, Alabama, while CSX will operate the 150 km east of Myrtlewood to Burkeville in Alabama. MNBR will continue to provide local services to customers between Meridian and Myrtlewood.
CPKC President & CEO Keith Creel said the new Class I corridor would provide more efficient service for existing CPKC and CSX traffic, ’creating competition, providing a service that will take more trucks off the road, and growing rail transportation by expanding markets across the southern US, from Dallas to Atlanta and beyond’.
CSX President & CEO Joe Hinrichs said ‘the interchange will help drive long-term business growth allowing customers to have greater connectivity and efficiency to reach key markets in Texas, Mexico, and the US southeast — all while providing safe and reliable service.’
