CN has landed agreements to sell three Mississippi line segments to Grenada Railway and Natchez Railway, both non-carrier affiliates of A&K Railroad Materials and V&S Railway, which operates short lines in Kansas and Colorado, reports progressiverailroading.com. Terms weren't disclosed.
Under the pacts, the Class I will transfer ownership of 252 miles of track, including CN's former Grenada and Natchez subdivisions, and the Water Valley branch line.
The Grenada line runs about 175 miles from the Mississippi/Tennessee border to near Canton, Miss.; the 66-mile Natchez line runs from Brookhaven to Natchez, Miss.; and 11-mile Water Valley branch intersects the Grenada line at W.V. Junction and extends to Coffeeville, Miss.
Since 2003, CN has worked with the state of Mississippi to attract additional rail business to the routes. However, those efforts "have not created a substantial increase in rail traffic and volume on these routes has dropped to the point where it is no longer economically viable to continue their operation," CN officials said in a prepared statement.
The deals "will allow these rail lines to remain in place serving Mississippi business," said Jim Vena, CN senior vice president-Southern Region. "CN will continue to offer interchange service to the new short lines."
(The preceding article was published by progressiverailroading.com)
