advertisement

---

Norfolk Southern Railway’s line rationalization program got rolling in late March.
The Class I signed a lease/purchase agreement with Lancaster & Chester Railway Co. (L&C), enabling the short line to operate a 30-mile NS line from Lancaster to Kershaw, S.C.
NS in January announced a restructuring plan, part of which includes rationalizing 3,000 to 4,000 track miles of the railroad’s network to determine which lines may be sold to short lines or customers, or abandoned.
"This is the first start-up of a short line under the new line rationalization program," says NS spokeswoman Susan Terpay. "But the line is not changing ownership — NS still owns the line and L&C has a lease with an option to purchase the line."
The deal more than doubles L&C’s track mileage from 29 miles to 59 miles — the first expansion in L&C’s 105-year history.
L&C March 25 operated the first 20-load train on the NS line, which primarily serves agricultural processor Archer Daniels Midland Co.’s Kershaw plant and steel fabricator AmeriSteel’s Lancaster facility.
— Jeff Stagl