CSX to start major Pan Am system upgrades in 2023

By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor 

When CSX acquired Pan Am Railways Inc. in June 2022, it gained a large railroad operating in one of the most densely populated U.S. markets. 

The 1,200-mile New England regional provides CSX access to more ports and large-scale commodity producers, expands its reach in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts, and increases its 23-state network to 26 with the addition of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. 

CSX also inherited something else through the purchase: a major track upgrade project in Maine that Pan Am had been planning for several years. Now, the Class I plans to spend more than $100 million to start that project this year, as well as complete other infrastructure improvements along Pan Am’s former network over the next few years.  

On Jan. 7, CSX Chief Engineer of Bridges, Design and Construction Ed Sparks provided some details about the upcoming work during a presentation at the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association’s annual meeting in Boca Raton, Florida. 

Estimated to cost more than $35 million, the Maine project will be partially funded by a federal Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program grant. In 2019, the Federal Railroad Administration approved the state of Maine’s $17.5 million CRISI grant for upgrades to 75 miles of Pan Am’s mainline between Yarmouth and Waterville. 

To start in 2023, the mainline upgrade in Maine calls for installing 400,000 lineal feet of continuous-welded rail, replacing 25 mainline switches and extending a passing siding. CSX

Later this year, CSX expects to start the work, which calls for installing 400,000 lineal feet of continuous-welded rail (CWR), replacing 25 mainline switches, extending a passing siding in New Gloucester by 4,800 lineal feet and replacing 441 timbers on eight bridge decks, according to Sparks’ presentation. Crews also will upgrade 47 public grade crossings and replace surfaces at 42 private crossings. 

Replacing old jointed rail with CWR will complement rail replacement that Pan Am previously performed on 38 miles in the corridor, state officials wrote in their CRISI grant application. Some switches will be upgraded to power switches that can be controlled by a dispatcher. 

The associated communications and signals work involves modernizing signal equipment at three interlockings, installing three new control points and adding wayside locations to extend the existing signal system by 16 miles. The work will fill in gaps where track signals don’t currently exist in the corridor to help improve rail safety and efficiency, state officials wrote. 

The entire project will enhance the safety, reliability and consistency of the mainline — especially during severe weather — and enhance rail competitiveness in rural areas of central Maine, they say. 

Meanwhile, CSX also is planning other infrastructure improvements along Pan Am lines over the next three years that involve two CRISI grants. That work calls for installing 800,000 lineal feet of new rail and 55,000 ties, and upgrading 65 switches and 110 or more crossings.  

Other work pegged for Pan Am’s system involves installing 800,000 lineal feet of new rail and 55,000 ties, and upgrading 110 or more crossings. CSX

In addition, CSX anticipates completing yard upgrades and clearance improvements, and increasing track speeds within the Pan Am system. 

Operating trains at higher speeds is one goal of another major trackwork project CSX plans to carry out this year: upgrading about 25 miles of track along a mainline in Worcester, Massachusetts. Crews will install new rail and ties, surface track, and raise or undercut bridges to create double-stack train clearances. 

The bolstered track will enable CSX to boost train speed on the line up to 25 mph. 

Overall, the numerous infrastructure improvements are necessary to exploit the Pan Am acquisition’s potential, CSX senior executives believe. They anticipate solid volume growth opportunities as the Class I continues to invest in boosting speed and reliability along the Pan Am system.