On May 15, 2008, Norfolk Southern Railway announced that it had come to an agreement with Pan Am Railways to "create an improved rail route between Albany, N.Y., and the greater Boston, Mass., area called the 'Patriot Corridor'."[2][3][4]
On March 12, 2009, Norfolk Southern and Pan Am received STB approval of the deal.[5] As of May 1, 2009, each of the two companies owns 50% of Pan Am Southern. PAR's trackage between Ayer, Massachusetts and Mechanicville, New York was transferred to PAS and continued to be operated and maintained by PAR's Springfield Terminal Railway Company subsidiary. NS transferred to PAS cash and property valued at $137.5 million.[6]
As a result of CSX's purchase of Pan Am Railways in June 2022, Pan Am Southern will no longer be operated by PAR. CSX inherited PAR's 50 percent stake in Pan Am Southern, with competitor Norfolk Southern owning the remaining half.[9] CSX and NS reached an agreement to have Pan Am Southern be operated by a new Genesee & Wyoming subsidiary named the Berkshire and Eastern Railroad, which the Surface Transportation Board (STB) approved.
The United States Department of Justice had recommended that the STB require CSX to sell its stake in PAS as a condition of the merger to prevent a reduction in competition.[10] Railroads in New England, including Vermont Rail System and Canadian Pacific Railway, had also objected to the plan for G&W to operate PAS, as it would give G&W an even more extensive network in the region than it currently has.[9] Canadian Pacific in particular asserted in a filing to the STB that the purchase would give CSX control of both of the primary east to west rail lines in New England and leave other companies at a competitive disadvantage.[11] The STB rejected those arguments.[12]
