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 A map of CSX Transportation's train routes with trackage rights in purple, as of 2009[update] | |
.jpg) CSX 660, aGE AC6000CW, westbound atPoint of Rocks, Maryland | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | CSX Transportation Building, 500 Water Street,Jacksonville, Florida, US |
| Key people | Steve Angel (President and CEO) Mike Cory (Executive Vice President and COO) Kevin Boone (Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer) Stephen Fortune (Executive Vice President and Chief Digital and Technology Officer) Sean Pelkey (Executive Vice President and CFO) Diana Sorfleet (Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer) Michael Burns (Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Corporate Secretary) |
| Reporting mark | CSXT |
| Locale | Northeastern,Southern,Midwestern United States andEastern Canada |
| Dates of operation | July 1, 1986 (1986-07-01)–present |
| Predecessors | |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge |
| Length | 21,000 miles (34,000 km) |
| Other | |
| Website | www |
CSX Transportation (reporting markCSXT), known colloquially as simplyCSX, is aClass I freight railroad company operating in theEastern United States and the Canadian provinces ofOntario andQuebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles (34,000 km) of track,[1] it is the leadingsubsidiary ofCSX Corporation, aFortune 500 company headquartered inJacksonville, Florida.[2][3]
CSX Corporation was formed in 1980 from the merger ofChessie System andSeaboard Coast Line Industries, two holding companies that controlled railroads operating in theEastern United States. Initially only a holding company, the subsidiaries that made up CSX Corporation completed merging in 1987. CSX Transportation formally came into existence in 1986, as the successor ofSeaboard System Railroad. In 1999, CSX Transportation acquired about half ofConrail in a joint purchase with competitorNorfolk Southern Railway. In 2022, it acquiredPan Am Railways, extending its reach into northernNew England.
Norfolk Southern remains CSX's chief competitor; the two share aduopoly on transcontinental freight rail lines in the east half of the US.
CSX is the result of a number of mergers among railroads operating in the eastern United States, the earliest among them theBaltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) which formed in the 1820s.[4] Many of the competing railroads along the east coast began merging from the 1950s onward as part of a broader trend of consolidation. An announcement from theNew York Central (NYC) andPennsylvania (PRR) railroads in November 1957 that they were considering combining set off discussions between the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and theChesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) on a merger.[5] Ultimately, the financially stronger C&O took control of the B&O in December 1962, though the two railroads kept their separate identities. The NYC and PRR ultimately formedPenn Central Transportation Company in 1968, which by 1970 was bankrupt.[6]
The combined C&O/B&O purchased stock in theWestern Maryland Railway until it was able to take full control in February 1967, bringing a third railroad into the combined entity, which in 1973 became formally known as theChessie System after the C&O's historic cat mascot Chessie.[7]
While the railroads inAppalachia were merging, southern railroads (and historical competitors)Seaboard Air Line Railroad andAtlantic Coast Line Railroad decided to pursue a merger in 1960, which was authorized by theInterstate Commerce Commission in late 1963 and finally completed in 1967, forming theSeaboard Coast Line Railroad.[8] The combined company absorbed thePiedmont and Northern Railway in 1969.[9]
In the Midwest, theLouisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) went on an acquisition spree, splitting theChicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad (C&EI) with theMissouri Pacific Railroad in 1969. This was followed in 1971 with the acquisition of theMonon Railroad, which had complained bitterly about the C&EI split. The L&N also purchased a portion of theTennessee Central Railway in 1969.[10] While still independent, the L&N had long standing links to the Atlantic Coast Line, and other railroads in the region began to worry about a combined L&N/SCL system.[11]
In 1969, the Seaboard Coast Line createdSeaboard Coast Line Industries as a holding company. The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad had already held some of L&N's stock, but the new holding company began buying up as much as it could find and held nearly total control of shares by 1971. With this also came control of theClinchfield Railroad andGeorgia Railroad, both of which were nominally jointly owned by SCL and L&N. The resulting railroad conglomerate began operating under the name "Family Lines".[12]
Despite this wave of mergers, one more was yet to come—the combination of Chessie System and the Family Lines. To this end, theCSX Corporation was organized on November 14, 1978, as a future vehicle for such a merger. Chessie and SCL Industries formally applied for ICC approval of their merger plans in January 1979, causing a rapid reaction from the region's other railroads. By April, theNorfolk and Western Railway andSouthern Railway unveiled their own plans for a merger. The Southern was opposed to the planned CSX merger, but soon came to terms with Chessie and SCL and dropped its objections.[13] On November 1, 1980, following ICC approval, CSX Corporation officially came into being as the successor of Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries. In 1982, N&W and the Southern completed their merger and formedNorfolk Southern Railway, creating a competitor to CSX.[13]
One of the first issues the new railroad grappled with was the choice of name. Chessie and SCLI leadership agreed that, as a merger of equals, neither of the existing names could be used. A call for suggestions went out to employees of both railroads, who responded with a wide variety of initialisms combining C and S in some form. At the same time, the two companies' lawyers needed a name to use as part of their proceedings with the ICC.[14] "CSC" was chosen but belonged to a trucking company inVirginia. "CSM" (for "Chessie-Seaboard Merger") was also taken. Needing some sort of identifier for the new railroad, the lawyers decided to use "CSX", and the name stuck, despite only being intended as a placeholder.[14] In the public announcement, it was said that "CSX is singularly appropriate. C can stand for Chessie, S for Seaboard and X, the multiplication symbol, means that together we are so much more."[14] However, an August 9, 2016, article on theRailway Age website stated that " ... the 'X' was for 'Consolidated' ".[15] A fourth letter had to be added to CSX when used as areporting mark (CSXT) because reporting marks that end in X mean that the car is owned by a leasing company or private car owner.[16] Chessie's public relations staff drafted a number of possible logos for the new railroad, but continued to strike out until it was suggested to combine the letters "C" and "S" in the shape of an X.[14]
Despite the merger in 1980, CSX was apaper railroad (meaning no CSX painted locomotives or rolling stock) until 1986. In that year, Seaboard System changed its name to CSX Transportation. On April 30, 1987, the B&O merged into the C&O. With the Western Maryland having already merged into the C&O, this left the C&O as the sole operating railroad under the Chessie System banner. Finally, on August 31, 1987, C&O/Chessie System merged into CSX Transportation, bringing all of the major CSX railroads under one banner.
Government formedConrail began to show promise in the early 1980s, showing a profit for the first time under the leadership ofL. Stanley Crane in the wake of theStaggers Rail Act. TheReagan Administration wished to privatize Conrail now that it had shown it could stand on its own and placed it for sale in 1983. While CSX expressed interest, it ultimately did not place a bid for Conrail; Norfolk Southern did, however. When the government identified NS' bid as the winner, CSX realized it faced financial peril from a combined NS/Conrail system. The railroad fiercely argued against allowing the sale to go through, even arguing that monopoly concerns precluded a Conrail sale to either NS or CSX. Despite his history in organizing the NS merger while leading the Southern Railway, Crane was a strong advocate for Conrail's independence and proposed an alternative: privatizing Conrail through aninitial public offering to the general public. Crane's solution was ultimately adopted in 1987, keeping Conrail independent.[17]
This was not the end of CSX and NS interest in Conrail, and attempts by both competitors resumed in the 1990s. This time, CSX struck first, announcing a surprise deal to purchase Conrail in October 1996. NS promptly made an offer of its own and began a bidding war with CSX that was only resolved in January 1997 when the competitors struck a deal to split Conrail between them.[18]
On June 23, 1997, CSX andNorfolk Southern Railway (NS) filed a joint application with theSurface Transportation Board for authority to purchase, divide, and operate the assets of the 11,000-mile (18,000 km) Conrail, which had been created in 1976 by bringing together several ailingNortheastern railway systems into agovernment-owned corporation. On June 6, 1998, the STB approved the CSX–NS application and set August 22, 1998, as the effective date of its decision. CSX acquired 42 percent of Conrail's assets, and NS received the remaining 58 percent. As a result of the transaction, CSX's rail operations grew to include some 3,800 miles (6,100 km) of the Conrail system (predominantly lines that had belonged to the formerNew York Central Railroad). CSX began operating its trains on its portion of the Conrail network on June 1, 1999. CSX now serves much of theEastern United States, with a few routes into nearby Canadian cities.
The two competitors were unwilling to give one company full control of busy industrial areas inDetroit,Philadelphia, and northern New Jersey (theChemical Coast). A compromise solution was reached by creatingConrail Shared Assets Operations, a jointly ownedswitching and terminal railroad which would operate in these areas on behalf of both CSX and NS.[19]
Virginia shortlineRichmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad (RF&P) was acquired by CSX in February 1990. The RF&P had historically been jointly owned by a number of connecting railroads through a holding company and operated as abridge line. All of these owners except the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Southern Railway eventually became part of CSX, and the PRR stake was given up during the bankruptcy of Penn Central. This purchase added a new connection betweenAlexandria andRichmond, linking former B&O lines with those of C&O and Seaboard. However, the State of Virginia, which held partial ownership of the RF&P, was displeased with the merger agreement created by CSX. In particular the status ofPotomac Yard, then a majorclassification yard in the RF&P system, was a matter of disagreement. The yard had potential for redevelopment, and as part of negotiations with the state, CSX ultimately agreed to decommission the rail yard by the time a deal was reached in October 1991 whereby CSX and the State of Virginia each purchased part of the RF&P.[20]
From the 1930s, the B&O had used part of thePittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (P&LE) main line fromMcKeesport, Pennsylvania, toWest Pittsburg via atrackage rights agreement. The P&LE remained healthy enough to escape inclusion in Conrail, but a severe downturn in the steel industry in the 1980s crippled the railroad. As local traffic dried up, conditions reached the point that the B&O was running as many as 20 trains per day on the P&LE main line versus just one run by the line's owner. When P&LE employees went on strike to protest a change in ownership of the railroad, the company cut maintenance and reduced its main line to one track to cut costs. This adversely affected CSX usage of the line and sparked an interest in purchasing it outright.[21]
An initial attempt to buy out the P&LE in partnership with anemployee buyout by P&LE employees in 1988 failed when negotiations between CSX and the other railroad's unions could not come to an agreement. CSX instead purchased the P&LE main line outright in 1991, leasing it back to the P&LE. The next year, CSX formed theThree Rivers Railway as a subsidiary and purchased several key P&LE lines through it. CSX did not want the entire railroad, so some lines and company assets were instead retained by the P&LE's parent company, which ultimately sold them off.[22]
The company introduced its current slogan, "How Tomorrow Moves", in 2008.[23]
In 2014,Canadian Pacific Railway approached CSX with an offer to merge the two companies, but CSX declined, and in 2015 Canadian Pacific made an attempt to purchase and merge withNorfolk Southern,[24] but NS declined to do so as well.
In 2017, CSX announcedHunter Harrison would become its new chief executive officer; a settlement with activist investorPaul Hilal and Mantle Ridge.[25] CSX added five new directors to their board, including Harrison and Mantle Ridge founder Paul Hilal. Mantle Ridge owns 4.9% of CSX.[26] Harrison quickly moved to convert CSX rail operations toprecision railroading.[27] On December 14, 2017, CSX announced that Hunter Harrison was on medical leave. Two days after the announcement, Harrison died, one day after being hospitalized for complications of an ongoing illness. CSX initially saw a 10% drop in its stock price, but turned around to hit a new 52-week high less than a month later (January 2018).[28] Harrison's successors have continued the shift to precision railroading, with mosthump yards converted to flat yards, low volume shipping lanes eliminated and reductions in rolling stock and work force.
On November 30, 2020, CSX Transportation's parent company CSX Corporation announced on social media that they had come to an agreement with Pan Am Systems to purchaseNew England based Class IIPan Am Railways, pending regulatory approval from theSurface Transportation Board. The STB approved the purchase on April 14, 2022.[29] As part of the acquisition, Norfolk Southern Railway will gain trackage rights over several CSX lines, andPan Am Southern, 50 percent owned by Pan Am Railways, will be operated by theBerkshire and Eastern Railroad, a newGenesee & Wyoming subsidiary formed explicitly for this purpose.[29] CSX completed the purchase on June 1, 2022.[30]
On June 28, 2023, CSX andCanadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) announced the intention to purchaseMeridian and Bigbee Railroad (MNBR). The MNBR creates a connection 168 miles (270 km) between CSX inBurkville, Alabama nearMontgomery, andMeridian, Mississippi, where it joins theMeridian Speedway heading west. Under the proposed agreement, CSX will resume operations between Montgomery and Myrtlewood, terminating the lease currently in place with MNBR, while CPKC will acquire the 50.4 miles (81.1 km) segment of the line between Myrtlewood and Meridian. MNBR will cease operations between Montgomery and Myrtlewood although it may continue to operate between Myrtlewood and Meridian, and continue to serve existing customers on that segment of the line.[31] If the STB approves the purchase, it will provide a connection between the two companies' networks and allow CSX traffic destined for Mexico to be delivered directly to CPKC, eliminating the need for a third intermediate railroad to move such traffic. Currently, CSX traffic bound for Mexico is exchanged with theUnion Pacific Railroad inNew Orleans, who then takes it to the cross-border gateway inLaredo, Texas, where it is delivered to CPKC.[32][33]
In October 2024, the STB approved CSX's resumption of operations on the 93.7 miles (150.8 km) leased from M&B between Burkville and Myrtlewood and CPKC's purchase of the 50.4 miles (81.1 km) miles of line between Myrtlewood and Meridian. The agreement became effective on November 16, 2024.
Initially, and for the next five years, CSX and CPKC will interchange across the line an average of two trains per day in each direction.
In turn, the Board also required CSX to maintain itsSelma, AL, gateway open and to provide one shipper access to the NS at Selma at the M&B rate for five years, subject to reasonable cost escalation. It also includes conditions protecting employees affected by the line sale, and requires noise mitigation efforts regarding the CSX portion.[34]
A few days before CSX and CPKC officially took over the former M&B line,Schneider National, CSX's one of major intermodal partners and CPKC's main partner, announced that a new interline service connecting the Southeast (Florida and Georgia) with the Texas and Mexico markets via the route between Montgomery and Meridian will be launched beginning in December.[35]
In August 2025, investor groupAncora Holdings urged the company to begin exploring a merger agreement withBNSF, the largest Class I railroad in the West, orCPKC, in response to the announced proposed mega-merger project between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern.[36][37]
At the same time, the investor group pressured the company to remove CEO and PresidentJoe Hinrichs, citing the financial and operational decline of the railroad, among other claims. According to Trains.com, since Hinrichs joined CSX in 2022, the railroad has produced the best total shareholder returns among publicly traded Class I railroads.[38] However, according to a March 2025 analysis by Trefis, CSX had a three-year compounded annual return of -3.7% over the period from 2021 to 2024. This was below the peer group's average return of -1.0% for the same period.[39] According to an article in Semafor, "Hinrichs' performance over the last year was similarly lackluster. CSX's stock price was middle-of-the-pack, but it had lagged on key efficiency metrics."[40] Hinrichs at several times asked for a pay increase for himself, which was $14 million annually.[40]
During his tenure, CEO Joe Hinrichs emphasized cultural and workforce initiatives such as the "ONE CSX" program. He defended shareholder returns during his time as CEO, but critics have said CSX's operating ratio had deteriorated from 58 percent to about 67 percent, and second-quarter 2025 operating income fell 11% year-over-year. Some investors have questioned his "servant leadership" management style.[41]
Citigroup analyst Ariel Rosa was perplexed by Ancora's position it provided in a letter to CSX. The letter stated:
Unfortunately, aside from bolstering employee engagement, making use of the Company's private planes and manicuring his social media footprint, we are hard pressed to find any real accomplishments tied to Mr. Hinrichs. His time at CSX is best encapsulated by this anecdote: on the very day Jim Vena and Mark George were announcing the largest merger in industry history, Mr. Hinrichs was out promoting his involvement with the Company's internship program on his tidily managed LinkedIn profile.
In response, Rosa wrote:
We find this letter a bit confounding given: 1) its aggressive tone, which we believe is largely unwarranted; 2) its timing, as CSX has been showing improvement on the service issues that impacted the company earlier this year; 3) Ancora's relatively small holdings, which we calculate as less than 0.2% of CSX shares outstanding; 4) what appears to be a misrepresentation of certain facts; 5) its suggestion that CSX faces 'permanent impairment of value' if it does not act imminently; and 6) the suggestion that CSX has not been open to strategic alternatives. By pushing CSX to be a forced seller, we worry that Ancora risks deteriorating CSX's negotiating position. We believe a patient approach is likely more prudent.
Ancora, which also owns shares in CPKC, also urged the company to sit down and negotiate a possible merger agreement with CSX, but because the Canadian company's eventual purchase of CSX could be frowned upon by theFederal Government, the investment group has suggested that CSX buy out CPKC and retain in its place as CEO and PresidentKeith Creel.[36]
CSX has hiredGoldman Sachs to advise it regarding any merger with BNSF or CPKC matters.[38]
Warren Buffett, the owner ofBerkshire Hathaway, BNSF's parent company, has denied that his Railroad is seeking a merger with CSX or to submit a better offer for NS. Company executives also denied rumors of an eventual merger with one of the Eastern Class I rail companies. However, they reported that they are in talks with CSX to launch new joint intermodal services fromJacksonville, Florida,Charlotte, North Carolina,Atlanta, Georgia and the ports ofNew York and Newark to BNSF's intermodal terminals inPhoenix,Kansas City,Barstow,Stockton andSan Bernardino.[43]
CPKC also clarified that, for the time being, it is not interested in pursuing a merger agreement with CSX. Any major rail merger, CPKC says, poses "unprecedented risks to customers, rail employees, and the broader supply chain. Those risks would be exacerbated by the inevitable follow-on consolidation," the railway says.[44]
CPKC also announced that it will seek to strengthen its joint intermodal service with CSX, "Southeast Mexico Express," which runs from the southeast (Georgia and Florida) to markets in Texas and Mexico.[44]
Investor pressure had an effect, and in September 2025, Hinrichs was removed from the company's board of directors, with Steve Angel taking his place as the new CEO of CSX.[45] Angel, an executive with a career in the chemical and railway industries when he worked at General Electric, will have the task of negotiating the eventual merger agreement with BNSF or CPKC, especially after PresidentDonald Trump has spoken out in favor of the proposed mega-merger between UP and NS.[46]
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CSX operated theJuice Train which consisted ofTropicana cars that carried freshorange juice betweenBradenton, Florida, and theGreenville section ofJersey City, New Jersey. The northbound train was originally designated on CSX as K650 during the 1990s, and Q740 in the 2000s. The Juice Train has previously been studied as a model of efficient rail transportation that can compete with trucks and other modes in the perishable-goods trade. In 2017, the train was abolished from north ofTampa, Florida, and now mixed freight trains deliver the cars to their respective destinations. It still operates between Bradenton and Tampa however, but is designated as local O823.[47][better source needed]
CSX operates Coke Expressunit trains.[48] They carrycoke forsteelmaking,power generation and other various uses, running betweenPittsburgh andChicago, and other places in theRust Belt.
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CSX has rebuilt a significant number of locomotives.[49] Some of theirEMDGP38-2,GP40-2, andSD40-2 locomotives have been rebuilt to Dash 3 standards with updated Wabtec Electronically Controlled Air Brakes, air conditioning, automated starting controls, a crash safe cab, a new electronic control stand, and Positive Train Control (PTC).[50] In 2019, 25SD70AC locomotives were rebuilt at the CSX Huntington Heavy Repair Facility, with rebuilt prime movers, in-cab electronic and comfort improvements,New York Air Brake CCB II airbrake systems, and new Mitsubishi drive controls.[51] CSX has also partnered withWabtec to rebuildGE locomotives at their Fort Worth facility[52] with prime movers upgraded to the FDL Advantage spec and new electronic controls such as the Wabtec Trip Optimizer Zero-to-Zero system.[53]
CSX has also obtained a fewEMD F40PH-2s that were previously retired fromAmtrak, of which are now being used for executive office car service andgeometry trains. Under CSX, they were originally numbered 9992, 9993, 9998, and 9999, but in 2021, all of these locomotives except for 9999 were renumbered to CSX 1, 2, and 3, and repainted into aheritage scheme honoring the formerBaltimore and Ohio Railroad.[54] Another locomotive, ex-MARCGP40WH-2 no. 9969, was also acquired for the same purposes as the previous locomotives.
With the arrival ofHunter Harrison, CSX began to store many locomotives. Following Harrison's death, his replacement James Foote largely continued his policies. The company had over 900 locomotives in storage in January 2018.[55]
CSX ordered tenSD70ACe-T4s in August 2018, which were delivered in July the following year. They are classified as ST70AHs. CSX also has a contract with Wabtec for modernizing their fleet of CW44s. The modernized locomotives, nearly thirty in number as of June 2020, are being classified asCM44AC.[56] In February 2024, CSX and Wabtec reached a new agreement, of which, involves the modernization of over 200 locomotives. This accounts for the rest of the active roster ofCW44ACs & CW44AHs. The locomotives will be modernized through 2028.[57]
On April 30, 2019, CSX unveiled locomotives 911 and 1776, twoES44AH locomotives created to honor the first responders and veterans respectively.[58] Another special unit, ES44AH 3194, was unveiled on August 22, 2019, in honor of the law enforcement.[59] On September 13, 2022, CSX unveiled SD70AC 4568 painted in honor ofOperation Lifesaver's 50th anniversary.[60] On December 31, 2024, CSX unveiled another SD70AC 4720 painted in honor of their 'One CSX' initiative that honors the railroads employees.[61]
In May 2023, CSX unveiled theirheritage unit program, beginning with ES44AH No. 1827 being painted for theBaltimore and Ohio Railroad. CSX then stated that a total of 21 heritage locomotives would be painted over the coming months, with the locomotive number coinciding with the year the railroad was founded or the name began being used.[62][63]
In the early 2020s a CSXEMD GP38-2 and two CSXEMD GP40-2 locomotives were adorned with heritage paint. Locomotive #2625 was adorned with aLouisville & Nashville themed nose,[64] locomotive #6914 adorned aChessie System livery on its nose,[65] and the third locomotive #6394 (an ex RF&P unit)[66] was adorned with a fantasyRichmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac scheme.[67]
In 1995, CSX started a newliability insurance requirement of $200 million to introduce their official policy, "no steam on its own wheels", banning the operation ofsteam locomotives and other antique rail equipment on their trackage due to safety concerns, and increased risk.[68][69]
Inhump yards, trains are slowly pushed over a small hill as cars are uncoupled at the crest of the hill and allowed to roll down the hump into the appropriate tracks for outbound trains.
In 2024, CSX Transportation reported total revenue of $14.54 billion and net income of $3.47 billion. The company's market capitalization was approximately $61.2 billion at the end of the year, with estimates in August and September 2025 ranging from $60.4 billion to $60.6 billion.[82][83][84]
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