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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2015 - 2016 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted:	January 6, 2016 10:00 AM
From:	Senator John C. Rafferty, Jr. and Sen. Gene Yaw
To:	All Senate members
Subject:	The Proposed Merger by Canadian Pacific Railway to Acquire Norfolk Southern Corporation

In the near future, we will introduce a resolution directed to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) to carefully review any plans submitted by Canadian Pacific (CP) Railway to acquire Norfolk Southern (NS) Corporation. Pennsylvania ranks first in the country in the number of operating railroads. NS currently manages one of the largest railroad systems in the state with more than 5,200 Pennsylvania-based employees, over 2,300 route miles of track, 22 rail yards and other assets that contribute to the Commonwealth’s economy and interconnected transportation system. On November 9, 2015, CP submitted an unsolicited proposal to acquire NS, which falls under the jurisdiction of STB to carefully review this rail-restructuring merger. CP has publicly stated that if it acquires NS then it would target approximately $1.8 billion in “synergies” that could result in significant employment cuts, asset reductions and potentially a poor freight-rail service to shippers doing business in Pennsylvania. Please join us in supporting this important resolution to STB to carefully review the proposed merger because of its potentially-negative impact to building a more efficient freight network in this Commonwealth. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Nolan Ritchie at nritchie@pasen.gov in Senator Rafferty’s Office or Adam Pankake at apankake@pasen.gov in Senator Yaw’s Office.

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