STB filing details CP-Amtrak deal

A SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD filing detailed an agreement between AMTRAK and CANADIAN PACIFIC for expanded passenger service on CP routes if the CP-Kansas City Southern merger is approved. Along with affirming a commitment to allow a daily New OrleansBaton Rouge, La., train without any requirement for infrastructure work, it made a similar offer to allow passenger service through the railroad’s DetroitWindsor tunnel, and outlined reduced infrastructure requirements for more service on the Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha corridor. The sides reached the agreement in exchange for Amtrak support of the merger.

Mining, pelletizer, and steelmaking firm CLEVELAND-CLIFFS announced plans to temporarily idle its NORTHSHORE MINING operation in Minnesota, which includes the 47-mile private railroad between its mine and taconite processing facility on Lake Superior. The railroad, launched by predecessor Reserve Mining Co. in 1955, uses SD70ACes and SD40 variants to move ore and tailings trains. The shutdown was set to begin this spring and will last at least until fall. Cleveland-Cliffs has been involved in a dispute over royalties from the Babbitt, Minn., mine served by the railroad, and has shifted its operations to a facility in Virginia, Minn. Steve Glischinski

The state of PENNSYLVANIA and NORFOLK SOUTHERN announced they were finalizing an agreement under which the state will pay for infrastructure improvements between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, allowing the addition of a second daily round trip between those cities on the route currently served by the Pennsylvanian. The improvements, estimated to cost up to $171 million, would add trackage at five yards, creating more space for freight trains to clear the line for passenger moves. It could take up to five years to complete the work once an agreement is completed.