FOR RELEASE
Contact: Dennis Watson
05/28/98 (Thursday)
(202) 565-1596
No. 98-36
FIRS 1 (800) 877-8339
www.stb.gov


SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD TO ALLOCATE MOST OF ITS HEARING ROOM SEATING TO GENERAL PUBLIC FOR VIEWING OF "CSX-NORFOLK SOUTHERN-CONRAIL MERGER" [footnote 1]VOTE; TO PROVIDE CLOSED-CIRCUIT TV TO "OVERFLOW" ROOM, SPACE FOR NEWS CONFERENCES AT VOTE'S CONCLUSION


Surface Transportation Board (Board) Chairman Linda J. Morgan announced today that the Board will allocate to the general public 80 of the 95 seats available in its Hearing Room for direct observation of the Board’s Monday, June 8, 1998, open voting conference concerning the “CSX-Norfolk Southern-Conrail merger” proceeding on a “first-come, first-served” basis. [FOOTNOTE 1: CSX Corporation and CSX Transportation, Inc., Norfolk Southern Corporation and Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Control and Operting Leases/Agreements--Conrail Inc. and Consolidated Rail Corporation, STB Finance Docket No. 33388.]


As previously announced, the Board will begin the voting conference promptly at
1:00 p.m. in its Hearing Room, Room 760, on the 7th Floor of its offices in the Mercury Building, 1925 K Street, N.W. (corner of 20th and K Streets), in Washington, D.C. Eighty “general public” admission badges for the voting conference will be made available on a “first-come, first-served” basis at the Board’s 20th Street entrance (between K and L Streets) beginning at 9:00 a.m. on June 8. Only one badge will be given per person, and--with the exception of several seats allotted to the three “primary” merger applicants[FOOTNOTE 2: That is, representatives of CSX Corporation and CSX Transportation, Inc.; Norfolk Southern Corporation and Norfolk Southern Railway Company; and Conrail Inc. and Consolidated Rail Corporation. ] and certain members of the media [FOOTE NOTE 3: That is, those who responded promptly to “Surface Transportation Board News” release No. 98-34, “Media Advisory: Surface Transportation Board Requires Media Seating Reservations for ‘Direct’ Observation of June 3-4 Oral Argument, June 8 Voting Conference re Proposed ‘CSX-Norfolk Southern-Conrail’ Merger,” issued to the public on Monday, May 18, 1998, in hard-copy form at the Board’s headquarters and through its news release mailing list, and electronically on the Board’s website and through its news release e-mail list. ] --only those holding such badges will be admitted to the Hearing Room to observe the Board’s vote directly. The Hearing Room will be open to all authorized attendees beginning at 12:00 noon on June 8.


No admission badges will be needed for public attendance--on a “first-come, first served” basis--in a second room, the Brick Room on the 1st Floor of the Mercury Building, which will be open and linked to the Hearing Room by a live, closed-circuit telecast of the entire voting conference. The Brick Room also will be opened at 12:00 noon on June 8. The Board will videotape the voting conference, and will make arrangements for tape duplication, at cost, if there is a public demand for such copies.



At the conclusion of the voting conference and all Board business immediately following the voting conference, the Hearing Room will be made available to participants in the merger proceeding, should they desire to speak to the news media. Those seeking to use the Hearing Room for such purpose must first contact Dennis Watson, in the Board’s Office of Congressional and Public Services, at (202) 565-1596.



###