By Justin Franz 

WASHINGTON — Vermont Rail System will receive trackage rights over Pan Am Railways in Vermont and Massachusetts in return for its support of CSX Transportation’s acquisition of the New England regional. 

The agreement between VRS and CSX, which was first filed with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board on Monday, removes yet another hurdle to the Class I’s plan to acquire Pan Am. 

As part of the agreement, VRS would get trackage rights down the former Boston & Maine Connecticut River Line from White River Jct. to Bellows Falls, Vt. That will help VRS connect with its Washington County Railroad operation, which operates on the former B&M and Canadian Pacific between White River Jct., and Newport. The railroad would also get “limited use trackage rights” south of Bellows Falls, to Millers Falls and East Northfield, Mass., for the purpose of interchanging traffic at East Deerfield Yard. 

Shortly after CSX announced its plans to take over Pan Am, VRS emerged as a vocal opponent. The short line operator specifically took issue with a provision that would have Pan Am Southern — a joint operation between Pan Am and Norfolk Southern in Massachusetts and Vermont — operated by a new Genesse & Wyoming railroad, called the Berkshire & Eastern. Specifically, VRS noted that G&W already has four other railroads in the region (New England Central, Providence & Worcester, Connecticut Southern and St. Lawrence & Atlantic) and that if the deal were to go through, five of VRS’ seven interchange points would be controlled by the G&W. While VRS would still be surrounded by G&W, the trackage rights agreements seemed to have resolved the short line’s issue with the CSX-Pan Am deal. 

While VRS is now in support of the deal, many others are still against it, including Canadian Pacific, Amtrak, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The STB will hold a hearing on January 13 about the proposed takeover.