SUSTAINMENT ON THE RAILS


MAINTAINING QUALITY A CSX engineering employee inspects heavy maintenance-of-way equipment at the Bryan Park Roadway Shop in Richmond, Virginia. CSX spends nearly half its capital budget each year to maintain its critical infrastructure.


Sanborn grew up in railroading. Her mother, Marie, was a CSX secretary and administrative assistant for 32 years. Her father, Richard, was president of CSX predecessor Seaboard System Railroad and later headed Conrail (Consolidated Rail Corp.). Sanborn herself is a certified locomotive engineer.


CSX, based in Jacksonville, Florida, is


now the nation’s third-largest Class I railroad, a distinction that the Federal Railroad Administration applies to the country’s largest and most profitable rail companies. Its transportation network encompasses about 21,000 route-miles of track in 23 states, the District of Columbia and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.


It is Sanborn’s job to ensure that CSX operations are safe, in addition to coor- dinating operations and service across divisions based in Albany, New York; Atlanta, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; Chicago, Illinois; Indianapo lis, Indiana;


92 Army AL&T Magazine April-June 2016


Florence, South Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; Louisville, Kentucky; and Nash- ville, Tennessee. Efficiency is paramount, but as Army sustainers know, that isn’t as simple an equation as it sounds. It means not just using the right processes to get freight from point A to point B on time for multiple customers, but also making the right investments in the right rail equipment and the right people at the right time. Sound familiar?


We wanted to pick Sanborn’s brain about how she and CSX balance the myriad, often competing considerations that in some ways mirror those of Army sustain- ers. Here is our discussion.


Army AL&T: Tis issue is all about sus- tainment. Tat term encompasses a wide variety of efforts beyond development and procurement, but also includes fielding, training, maintenance, general support and eventually demilitariza- tion—all of which can be quite complex. Is there a parallel to that in the way


that CSX acquires, for example, a new locomotive engine (if that’s the correct terminology)?


Sanborn: Ensuring that CSX remains a premier transportation services pro- vider requires a combination of efforts and expertise along with investment and constant focus on improvement. In this business environment, we’re very focused on improving the efficiency of our rail network and the processes that help to run our business. We are committed to investing for the future, which includes our


infrastructure, facilities, rolling


assets such as locomotives and rail cars, and technology. We invest about $1 bil- lion every year to maintain and upgrade our infrastructure, to ensure safe, reliable service for our customers. Tat includes replacing and resurfacing tracks, upgrad- ing bridges and upgrading and rebuilding locomotives and cars.


Another part of our planning process involves


ensuring adequate network


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