Connecticut Southern Railroad, Inc. has filed a verified notice of exemption with the Surface Transportation Board to lease and operate a state-owned rail line in the Hartford area as the current operator prepares to step aside.
CSO, a Class III railroad, said it plans to lease from the Connecticut Department of Transportation and operate about 8.64 miles of track running from milepost 0.0 in Hartford to milepost 8.64 at Griffins, a route known as the Griffins Industrial Track. The line is currently operated by Central New England Railroad, Inc., which has held operating authority under a prior STB exemption.
CSO said the agreement between CNZR and CTDOT is ending and that CSO would become the new operator. CSO also said CNZR has authorized it to state that CNZR does not object to the filing and that the change would shift common carrier authority for the line to CSO, thereby releasing CNZR from its common carrier obligation to operate it.
CSO certified that its lease with CTDOT does not include an interchange commitment and said the arrangement would not create a Class I or Class II carrier. CSO also said its projected annual revenues from the transaction would exceed $5 million. The railroad said there are no shippers on the line, and the notice requirement to shippers therefore does not apply.
The transaction may be consummated on or after April 21, the effective date of the exemption. Petitions to stay must be filed by April 14, and petitions to revoke the exemption may be filed at any time.
In a related filing, CSO noted that an earlier STB notice described the line as extending to milepost 8.7 at Griffins, but CSO said it believes anything beyond milepost 8.64 was abandoned in 1938 and that it has found no evidence of operations beyond milepost 8.64 in the past 27 years.
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