Union objects to CSX plan for rail line

MASSENA — About 100 high-paying jobs could be on the line if CSX Transportation is given the green light to stop using the Massena Line as its primary link between southern New York and Canada.

According to Sam Nasca, state director of the United Transportation Union, shippers and rail customers may face diminished service and delays if CSX proceeds as planned.

CSX last month applied to the federal Surface Transportation Board for approval of a joint-use agreement with Delaware and Hudson Railway Co., a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific, for rail lines running between New York City and Rouses Point, at the Canadian border.

The agreement would allow Delaware and Hudson to take advantage of CSX lines between Manhattan and Albany, while CSX would share a Delaware and Hudson line running from Albany to Rouses Point.

Instead of using its Massena Line — which runs from Syracuse through Watertown, Fort Drum and Massena and ends in Huntingdon, Quebec — CSX would shift its major traffic to the Albany-Rouses Point Line and reduce service for existing customers on the Massena Line to a few days per week.

In its application, CSX said it will continue to provide service to north country customers and that most will see no change or degradation in service.

The plan calls for the elimination of 14 jobs as a result of the move, including engineers and conductors along the length of the route.

Mr. Nasca said that if the move is approved, he believes it will allow CSX to phase the Massena Line out of its rail network entirely and eventually sell off the track to a smaller company or simply abandon it. Local officials have pointed out that CSX has attempted to sell the Massena Line several times in the past.

While shifting CSX trains to the Albany-Rouses Point Line may eliminate only 14 jobs initially, Mr. Nasca said an additional 86 jobs could follow in the event CSX sells or stops using the Massena Line.

Workers likely to be affected by the change make, on average, about $80,000 per year and range in age from new employees to those approaching retirement, the union official said.

Mr. Nasca has filed several objections to CSX's plan on behalf of his union's members and said he hopes the Surface Transportation Board will deny CSX's request at its Oct. 22 meeting.

The St. Lawrence County Legislature's Economic Development and Strategic Planning Committee plans to hold a meeting with federal and state elected officials at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 22 to discuss CSX's proposal.