SILVER LAKE, IN
CSX was a railroad that thrived in its methods. Their CEO, Michael J. Ward, was a great man. He knew everything that had to be done on the railroad. CSX utilized its large fleet of locomotives to get the job done every day, 24/7. CSX was a very popular railroad among people, employees and “railfans” alike. The railfans loved CSX for its locomotives. Electro-Motive engines such as the SD40-2 and SD70MAC, and General Electric engines such as the Dash 8 Series were loved, and frequently had their pictures taken. And, to top it all off, CSX cared so much about safety. According to their website, their “commitment to safety defines who we are”.
Now, with new CEO E. Hunter Harrison calling the shots, so many things have changed. These things included cutting traffic, closing down hump yards, storing hundreds of locomotives, laying off hundreds of employees, banning train crews from resting on the job, and discontinuing funding for important safety equipment. Harrison has also combined trains, making some of them two miles long! I don’t think CSX was ever meant for running trains this long!
As well, customer service has become a pain, with some of the new employees getting frustrated over a few simple things, according to several customers themselves. Many customers have also complained about carloads of their mail, products, and other important stuff sitting around in a rail yard for up to 13 days or so. As well, one customer stated that “dealing with CSX has become a frustrating process that at times is not worth the effort”. So, in other words, CSX is a general pain now, and with no end in sight, things may only get worse.
In my opinion, I don’t think there is an end in sight to this new CSX I have seen this summer. I have never once seen any railroad company like this before in my life. If we can hope for anything, it is for EHH and his executives to be fired or banned by the Federal Railroad Administration, but that won’t be happening anytime soon. So, I think it might be hopeless to pray that the new CSX goes away.
I am expecting the corporation to drown in all of this dissatisfaction…this criticism…this hate. It is highly expected by me for CSX to be acquired in the not-so-distant future, maybe even split up like Conrail in 1999. If they do get split, who will be the ones splitting CSX up? My predictions have Norfolk Southern and the Canadian Pacific to split CSX among each other. I don’t really expect an acquisition by one single railroad. NS and CP are too big, and the NYS&W can’t really afford it. Any type of takeover is possible, however, and I am just waiting patiently for the moment CSX becomes history.
– Thomas R. Boyer