Hunter Harrison responds to Railway Age

Turns out the problems at CSX are not the fault of chief executive Hunter Harrison but rather neophobes among his staff – at least according to the man himself. The carrier came in for criticism last week following a letter from the Surface Transportation Board (STB), which raised concerns around purported declines in service quality. After Railway Age drew attention to the issue, Mr Harrison decided to respond with a self-penned letter. While admitting challenges and disruptions had occurred during the implementation of his “precision railroading” model, Mr Harrison laid the blame firmly at the feet of those “comfortable in the status quo” and “resistant” to change, before going on to quote George Bernard Shaw. He then asked Railway Age to “reach out to me personally for insights prior to publication”. It should be noted when The Loadstar reached out for comment regarding the STB’s letter, CSX declined to say much more than it was “working with the regulator”.