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BLET Members Ratify Berkshire & Eastern Implementing Agreement

The vote by 60 union members clears the way for Genesee & Wyoming to take over the former Boston & Maine west of Ayer, Mass. Photo by Steve Barry.

BLET Members Ratify Berkshire & Eastern Implementing Agreement

By Railfan & Railroad Staff

This month, Springfield Terminal Railway employees represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen ratified an implementation agreement that will clear the way for Genesee & Wyoming to take over the former Boston & Maine west of Ayer, Mass., from CSX Transportation. The G&W’s pending takeover of the former Pan Am Southern came as a result of the Class I’s purchase of Pan Am Railways in 2022.  

As part of CSX’s takeover of PAR, the Class I agreed to have G&W operate Pan Am Southern, a joint venture with Norfolk Southern that includes much of the former Boston & Maine west of Ayer, Mass. G&W plans to operate the main line across western Massachusetts and eastern New York, along with branches into Connecticut and Vermont, as the Berkshire & Eastern. The new railroad will operate on about 425 miles of track, according to the union. 

The implementation agreement addressed changes in operations resulting from the transaction as well as figured out which employees would stay with CSX and which would go to the B&E. 

Since CSX took over Pan Am last year, it has been operating Pan Am Southern much as it did when the regional was independent. The Class I has been tightlipped about when it would finally hand over PAS to G&W (the railroad did not respond to a request for comment earlier this year). However, the implementation agreement would seem to suggest that the changeover could happen in the coming months.

This article was posted on: March 17, 2023