On Wednesday, June 1, 2022, the New England regional officially became part of CSX Transportation, six weeks after the Surface Transportation Board approved the acquisition. Over the next three years, CSX will invest more than $100 million to improve Pan Am’s main lines and yards. The acquisition adds Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Saint John, and New Brunswick, to the CSX network while expanding its reach in New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
CSX will also assume Pan Am Railways’ role in the Pan Am Southern, a joint venture with Norfolk Southern that includes Pan Am trackage west of Ayer, Massachusetts, with routes along the Connecticut River in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. For now, Pan Am Southern continues to be operated by Pan Am Railways subsidiary Springfield Terminal.
Pan Am was the largest regional railroad in North America and a privately held company that went on the market in 2020. CSX’s bid beat two other suitors who were interested in acquiring it. It spanned 1,700 miles from Albany, N.Y., to Maine and includes the former Maine Central, Boston & Maine, Portland Terminal, and Springfield Terminal railroads. Formerly known as the Guilford Rail System, it was rebranded as Pan Am in 2006.
Terms of the CSX-Pan Am deal were not disclosed, although people familiar with the matter said the purchase price was approximately $700 million.
