Not in that region, to the best of my knowledge CSX and Norfolk are the ones who control the lines around there and UP and BNSF can only buy passage on the lines, so you can compete on the cost who actually hauling the freight, but not on the cost of passage on the lines.
In this case, it was a Norfolk line being used by a CSX manned crew, but CSX also only holds a very itty bitty tiny stretch of track in PA, connecting Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to out of state branches, while Norfolk operates nearly all the East-West Rail.
In this case, CSX operates as a figleaf competitor for Norfolk to be able to claim they have competition, while it’s pretty marginal rail at best unless your goal is to ship stuff out of state.
Edit: It appears Amtrak also owns some lines connecting Harrisburgh, Philly, and then into the greater Eastern Seaboard passenger lines.
Not in that region, to the best of my knowledge CSX and Norfolk are the ones who control the lines around there and UP and BNSF can only buy passage on the lines, so you can compete on the cost who actually hauling the freight, but not on the cost of passage on the lines.
In this case, it was a Norfolk line being used by a CSX manned crew, but CSX also only holds a very itty bitty tiny stretch of track in PA, connecting Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to out of state branches, while Norfolk operates nearly all the East-West Rail.
In this case, CSX operates as a figleaf competitor for Norfolk to be able to claim they have competition, while it’s pretty marginal rail at best unless your goal is to ship stuff out of state.
Edit: It appears Amtrak also owns some lines connecting Harrisburgh, Philly, and then into the greater Eastern Seaboard passenger lines.