Increased Possibility of NOL to FLA Service?

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I just read in Trains that a shortline has aquired CSX's line between Jacksonville and NOL. Per the article, this was the route of the Sunset Limited. Possible that now negotiations to provide Amtrak service along that route wouldn't take a zillion dollar bribe to CSX?
 
Could we get a link?  I'd need to see the article (and with it, figure out how much of the line was acquired) to even begin to guess at this.
 
There is an entire thread on this in Nov 2018. This was the thread starter article:

jis said:
The following was notified by the STB on Nov 6, 2018:
Pursuant to regulations of the Surface Transportation Board, 49 C.F.R. § 1150.32(e), Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad LLC (“FGAR”) hereby notifies employees of CSX Transportation, Inc. (“CSXT”) that FGAR intends to acquire from CSXT and operate the following rail lines: (1) the Tallahassee Subdivision between Baldwin, FL at or near CSXT milepost SP 653.3 and Chattahoochee, FL, at or near CSXT milepost SP 842.5, (2) the P&A Subdivision between Chattahoochee, FL, at or near CSXT milepost 00K810.7 and Pensacola, FL, at or near CSXT milepost 00K651.0, and (3) portions of the Bainbridge Subdivision between Tallahassee, FL, at or near CSXT milepost SLC 52.0 and Attapulgus, GA, at or near CSXT milepost SLC 79.0 (the “Lines”). The total length of the Lines is approximately 373 Miles.
This is basically the entire CSXT Florida Panhandle Line between Baldwin FL (outside Jacksonville) and Pensacola FL.This has bearing on planned Amtrak service since this is almost the entire Panhandle route for the proposed Gulf Coast Service between New Orleans and Jacksonville/Orlando.

Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad LLC is a newly minted subsidiary of International Rail Partners, which is a holding company of numerous short lines in the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia and South America.
 
Thanks for the refresher.  I guess the question is how much of a pain CSX is going to be over service between Pensacola and New Orleans...increasing experience is that while Class Is want their business run their way unless you're willing to pay a premium, Class II/Class III operators want any business willing to pay a reasonable price.
 
I am almost certain that CSX will try to extract whatever it can to provide access to NOL to Mobile and Pensacola, and also from Baldwin to JAX. And Amtrak will still have conniption about the state of train control facilities on the short line but possibly relent after huffing and puffing about SMS for a while.

So all in all, I don’t see much in the way of things getting any easier.
 
Wellp it looks like the CSX selloff of the Gulf Coast line fell through because CSX and the buyer could not agree on terms.

The sale of the Florida Panhandle train route from CSX to RailUSA, slated to be complete this month, is off.

The route spans 373 miles of train lines stretching across from Jacksonville to Pensacola, among other cities. 

CSX issued the following statement:

"CSX and RailUSA were unable to come to terms on a transaction for CSX tracks through the Florida Panhandle. CSX will continue to evaluate options for the rail line and will continue communicating with customers, union representatives and employees as we move forward."

RailUSA did not respond to media inquires. 
https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/money/2019/01/18/deal-falls-through-between-csx-railusa-panhandle-tracks/2617971002/
 
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