Louisville & Indiana acquires Southern Indiana Railway's assets

Louisville & Indiana Railroad (LIRC) has acquired the assets and operating rights of the former Southern Indiana Railway (SIND), a short line that operated in the Louisville, Kentucky, area.

Until 2020, SIND served customers along its 5.5-mile line between Speed and a connection with CSX in Watson, Indiana. The Surface Transportation Board approved the acquisition on April 5, noting that with SIND no longer provided service and no current employees were affected by the transaction, LIRC officials said in a press release.

An affiliate of Anacostia Rail Holdings Co., LIRC is a 106-mile short line linking Indianapolis with Louisville. It interchanges with CSX, Norfolk Southern Railway, the Indiana Rail Road Co. and Paducah & Louisville Railway.

LIRC will use the SIND rail assets to enhance existing freight service, including the conversion of SIND's engine house into a maintenance-of-way facility and surrounding property to store track materials. Other portions of SIND's rail infrastructure offer opportunities to expand service to industrial sites, LIRC officials said.

"We see this as a way to grow our footprint," said LIRC President John Goldman. "The existing track is maintained to Federal Railroad Administration Class I standards, and we will consider upgrades and rehabilitation dependent on commercial opportunities we can create."