The South Carolina Central Railroad and Georgia Southwestern Railroad have asked federal regulators to approve the abandonment and discontinuance of service on nearly 2.2 miles of rail in Muscogee County, Georgia, citing the lack of freight traffic since 2016.
In a filing with the Surface Transportation Board, the carriers propose withdrawing service from two segments: the “Dummy Line,” from Milepost 0.60/Value Station 91+21 to Value Station 41+60, and the Georgia Power Lead, from Value Station 0+00/59+79 to Value Station 41+61.
The stub-ended line has no overhead traffic and no stations, according to the notice. The railroads also report no pending complaints about the cessation of service.
Unless the case is stayed, the exemptions would take effect Jan. 2, 2026. Procedural deadlines include Dec. 12 for petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues, Dec. 15 for formal expressions of intent to file an offer of financial assistance and for interim trail use/railbanking requests, and Dec. 23 for petitions to reopen or public-use requests.
The STB’s Office of Environmental Analysis plans to issue a Draft Environmental Assessment by Dec. 8; comments on environmental and historic-preservation matters will be due 15 days after its release. The railroads say the required environmental and historic notices and publications have been completed.
Any employees adversely affected by the action would receive standard labor protections. If an OFA is filed and accepted, a qualified purchaser could acquire the line to continue freight service. If no OFA materializes, a trail sponsor may seek interim trail use under federal railbanking rules.
SCRF must file a notice of consummation with the STB upon completion of the abandonment. If consummation is not filed by Dec. 3, 2026—and no legal or regulatory barriers exist—the authority to abandon will lapse.
