Csx Transportation

Baltimore will cease to function as a headquarters city for a major railroad for the first time since the founding in 1828 of the Baltimore & Ohio as a result of a reorganization announced by CSX Transportation Inc. yesterday."

The Howard Street Tunnel has been a headache from the day its opened in 1895. It drove the railroad that built it into bankruptcy. It's been obsolete for decades. A derailment and chemical fire in 2001 showed it to be a bottleneck for East Coast freight rail traffic. And it's likely to remain that way for a long time. Alternatives have been proposed, but any of them would be costly and take decades to build. CSX Transportation, the tunnel's owner, seems in no rush to replace it. "For the foreseeable future, that tunnel is an important part of our network," said railroad spokesman Bob Sullivan.

CSX-Conrail merger would harm the portI am surprised that Maryland has not taken an active role in preventing the CSX Transportation stock tender for Conrail Corp. The two transportation companies provide rail and other services to the northeast and mid-Atlantic areas.CSX Transportation's interest in Conrail is a legitimate business interest. But let's view the probable outcome from the perspective of the Port of Baltimore.CSX Transportation and its subsidiaries have a financial interest in having its rail customers transloading in its Newport News, Va., facilities.

In the aftermath of an August derailment in the Howard Street Tunnel, CSX Transportation and Baltimore have jointly announced a series of actions to improve safety in the more than 100-year-old structure, including improved communications, stepped-up inspections and an accelerated track replacement program. The agreement reflects an increasingly cooperative relationship between the freight railroad and City Hall and stands in stark contrast to the finger-pointing and recriminations that marked the response to the near-catastrophic 2001 fire in the tunnel.

CSX Transportation's newly retrofitted, $1.4 million, low-emissions, fuel-conserving diesel locomotive gleamed as it was put on display for visiting dignitaries at Camden Yards Tuesday. By Wednesday morning, it will be hard at work at the grunt labor of pulling trains apart and pushing them together at the gritty CSX rail yard in Curtis Bay. CSX officials said it might not get another visit to the ballpark for a long time. "It will go to work," said CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan.

CSX Transportation Inc., which has been struggling to reduce its costs, has won the right to cut its train crew sizes from four to three on almost every mile of its 18,800-mile system.By winning the United Transportation Union's permission to cut one brakeman from its train crews, CSX has caught up with most of its major railroad competitors, according to Jeffrey Medford, who follows the rail industry for Wheat First Securities in Richmond, Va.As recently as 18 months ago, Richmond-based CSX had an average of 4.3 workers on each train, Mr. Medford explained.

The week-long closing of a portion of Route 30 through Hampstead next month to rebuild a railroad crossing will no doubt terribly inconvenience thousands of motorists. But this is one of those decisions in which a group of well-meaning people made the best of a bad situation.CSX Transportation, the owner of the railroad tracks, wants to reconstruct a deteriorated grade crossing near the Black & Decker distribution plant. It was repaired two years ago but needs to be fixed again. CSX wants to install a rubberized crossing that it says will last at least a decade and provide a smoother ride for drivers.

New positions* Anne Arundel Community College named Andrew L. Myer dean of continuing education/extended learning programs.* The Beth El Synagogue elected John P. Abosch second vice president of the Katz, Abosch, Windesheim, Gershman & Freedman accounting firm.* Clyde's Restaurant Group named Thomas C. England general manager of Clyde's of Columbia and The Tomato Palace. Also, Kenneth F. Clay was named executive chef at Clyde's of Columbia.* CSX Transportation Inc. named Jack Piatak chief environmental officer and Katherine E. Wilson chief quality officer.

Greater efficiency, higher rates sent CSX's 4th-quarter net income up 3.2%CSX Corp., a Richmond, Va.-based transportation company, posted a 3.2 percent increase in net income during the quarter that just ended, as greater operating efficiencies and higher rates allowed the company to increase its profits despite a downturn in the nation's economy.Net income for the fourth quarter was $129 million, or $1.31 a share, compared with $125 million, or $1.25 a share, for the same quarter last year.

ATHREE-JUDGE panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals is to hear oral arguments today from CSX Transportation challenging the District of Columbia's right to prohibit ultrahazardous material from a designated zone in the heart of Washington. CSX is appealing a ruling by U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, who last week upheld an ordinance recently passed by the D.C. Council. Judge Sullivan, ignoring objections by CSX Transportation and various federal agencies, sent an unmistakable message to the Bush administration in his April 18 ruling: Get out of court and get something done.