Local sources tell News Wire that CSX officials traveled to Johnston City, Tenn., on Wednesday to meet with local management on proposed cutbacks to the railroad’s former Clinchfield Railroad mainline between Elkhorn City, Ky., and Spartanburg, S.C. Officials met with labor union managers early Thursday morning in Erwin.
The proposed cutbacks would detour most rail traffic, including coal loads and empties away from the Clinchfield mainline, routing them via the railroad’s Corbin, Ky., to Etowah, Tenn. route on the former Louisville & Nashville mainline or the former Chesapeake & Ohio mainline in West Virginia. Sources say this process is gradually taking place now.
The detours would affect most run-through trains on the railroad’s Kingsport and Blue Ridge Subdivisions, including southbound coal loads en-route to utility destinations in the southeast, as well as their respective empties. Run-through grain, ethanol, and other unit trains would also be detoured. Service to local industries in the Kingsport, Tenn., area would continue to be served by a shortened Q696/Q697 manifest train. Currently, the daily manifest operates between Russell, Ky., and Hamlet, N.C., but sources say it may soon operate from Kingsport, Tenn., to Hamlet, N.C.
The proposed workforce reductions would also affect job positions at the Erwin terminal, including several abolished positions in local management, regularly assigned train jobs, and an overall downsizing of existing train service positions. The railroad currently employs approximately 300 workers in various positions at Erwin.
Sources also shared this week that the railroad has postponed further positive train control installations on the Blue Ridge Subdivision.
The approximate 275-mile Clinchfield mainline extends from eastern Kentucky to northwestern South Carolina, traversing some of Appalachia’s most remote and picturesque terrain. The route also hosts the annual Santa Train tradition.
The two subdivisions directly impacted include the Kingsport Subdivision between Shelby Yard in Pikeville, Ky., to Erwin, Tenn., as well as the Blue Ridge Subdivision between Erwin, Tenn. and Spartanburg, S.C. Consequently, these proposed cutbacks would also impact the Big Sandy Subdivision, which connects Russell, Ky., to Shelby Yard in Pikeville.
Trains News Wire reported on Friday that CSX plans to mothball or shutter lines along portions of the former Clinchfield Railroad mainline.
In a conference call with investment analysts on Wednesday, railroad executives said they expect to reduce the overall workforce in the company by 2 percent by the end of 2015 amid declines in coal traffic that are 20 percent lower from the same time in 2014, according to notes of the call transcribed by Seeking Alpha.
In responding to an analyst’s question about what restructuring CSX plans to do to address the coal decline, Cindy Sanborn, the railroad’s chief operating officer, said she thought “everything is on the table.”
“And as far whether it would be facilities or lines, I think you will understand and appreciate that we want to be able to talk about those things internally before we do externally,” Sanborn said. “But there’s really not anything that’s not on the table.”
A CSX news release from early Thursday says railroaders at Erwin will receive 60 days of pay and benefits while many will eligible to bid on jobs elsewhere in CSX’s system. The full release is available on the CSX website.
Trains News Wire will report the latest on this developing story as more information becomes available.
