Breaking news from The Herald-Dispatch
Mark Webb
The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON — CSX it is consolidating its operations administration from 10 divisions to 9 divisions and closing administrative offices at Huntington, according to a press release posted on the company’s website this afternoon.
The company announced today that it is consolidating its operations administration from 10 divisions to nine, and the administrative responsibilities of the Huntington Division will be reassigned to five adjoining divisions: Atlanta, Baltimore, Florence, Great Lakes and Louisville.
The 121 management and union employees who currently report to the Huntington Division offices will remain employed in the area supporting the transition of administrative responsibilities over the next several months, according to the release. At the conclusion of the transition period, the timing of which may vary by role, many employees will be given an opportunity to fill positions in other areas of the network.
CSX will continue to run trains over the territory, and its yards and other facilities in the Huntington region – including the Huntington locomotive shop – will continue operations, according to the release.
The company remains committed to the Huntington community, which has played a vital role in railroading and American commerce since its namesake Collis P. Huntington completed the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in 1873.
Primarily serving customers in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio, the Huntington territory encompasses the Central Appalachian coal fields, which have been significantly affected by low natural gas prices and regulatory actions. Over the past four years alone, CSX’s coal revenues have declined $1.4 billion, and the company attributed those losses to low natural gas prices and regulatory actions in the release.
“Today’s announcement is part of CSX’s focus on reducing structural costs and aligning resources with demand in its coal fields, and follows the reduction of train operations at Erwin, Tennessee and the closing of mechanical shops at Corbin, Kentucky,” according to the press release.
CSX maintains more than 2,000 miles of track in West Virginia and handled more than 1.7 million carloads of freight in the state in 2014.
