(Source: Anacostia Rail Holdings press release, May 12, 2022)
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — Louisville & Indiana Railroad (LIRC), an affiliate of Chicago-based Anacostia Rail Holdings Company, has acquired the assets and operating rights of the former Southern Indiana Railway (SIND), a short line located in the Louisville metropolitan area.
Until 2020, SIND served customers along its 5.5 miles of line between Speed and a connection with CSX Transportation at Watson, Ind. The Surface Transportation Board approved the acquisition on April 5, noting that with SIND out of service, no current employees are affected by the action.
LIRC is a 106-mile short line railroad linking Indianapolis with Louisville. Its connections include CSX, Norfolk Southern, Indiana Rail Road, and Paducah & Louisville.
With the acquisition complete, Louisville & Indiana will use SIND rail assets to enhance LIRC’s existing freight service, including conversion of the SIND engine house to a maintenance-of-way facility and surrounding property to store track material. Other portions of SIND rail infrastructure offer opportunities to expand service to industrial sites.
“We see this as a way to grow our footprint,” said LIRC President John Goldman. “The existing track is maintained to FRA Class 1 standards, and we will consider upgrades and rehabilitation dependent on commercial opportunities we can create.”
Southern Indiana Railway traced its history to the 1905 expansion of the Louisville & Northern Electric Traction Company, an interurban line owned by Chicago utilities magnate Samuel Insull, and the subsequent 1939 sale of a portion of the line to form Southern Indiana Railway, which remained in operation until 2020.
Anacostia Rail Holdings Company (www.anacostia.com) is a railroad holding company operating six lines in seven states. In addition to LIRC, the Anacostia affiliates include Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad, Gulf Coast Switching Company, New York & Atlantic Railway Company, Northern Lines Railway, and Pacific Harbor Line.