BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 17, 2022
Pan Am Railways, Maine’s largest rail operator, will merge with Florida-based CSX Transportation — the latest in a long line of mergers and acquisitions for rail service in Maine. The history of rail service in the Bangor area stretches back nearly 200 years to 1836. Two companies emerged as the main players in the latter half of the 19th century: Maine Central Railroad, and the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad. Both operated for more than a century. Passenger service on those lines ended by the early 1960s, but freight service continued. In 1981, Maine Central was sold to Guilford Transportation. In 2006, Guilford changed its name to Pan Am. In 2002, B&A went bankrupt, and in 2003 was sold to Rail World, which incorporated into its Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway. In July 2013, an MMA train derailed in Lac Megantic, Quebec, and the ensuing explosion destroyed the city’s downtown and killed 47 people. Following the disaster, the company filed for bankruptcy and was sold in 2014; its Maine lines are now owned by Canadian Pacific Railway.