CITING ITS OWN PRECEDENT ESTABLISHED BY THE 2014 GRAFTON CROSS-COURT BACKHAND GRAB, GRAFTON & UPTON RAILROAD TRIES TO PUT AWAY TOWN OF HOPEDALE IN STRAIGHT SETS TO WIN 155-ACRE FUTURE YARD PARCEL.
23.November, Hopedale MA — Grafton & Upton Railroad Company filed a Petition for Declaratory Order with the STB, seeking to preempt the Town of Hopedale MA from invoking state and local statutory impediments to G&U’s (prospective) acquisition and use of a Hopedale property, to which the railroad holds title. GU’s Petition asserts that Hopedale’s Massachusetts […]
MASSACHUSETTS INDUSTRIAL RAIL ACCESS PROGRAM GENERATES RECORD $7 MILLION FREIGHT RAIL DEVELOPMENT, DESPITE PANDEMIC-REDUCED STATE CONTRIBUTION.
As with every state in the Year of the Coronavirus, Massachusetts’ coffers are drastically lower than anticipated at the beginning of 2020. In line with all Massachusetts government agencies confronted by the state’s pandemic budget deficit, the 2020 IRAP VIII program reduced its grant budget by 11% compared to 2019. But thanks in part to […]
NS ALERTS STB THAT PROPOSED CSX/PAR VOTING TRUST ACQUISITION INSTRUMENT MAY VIOLATE 2008 PAS (NS/PAR) AGREEMENT AND MERITS BOARD SCRUTINY.
RELATED POST: Will CSX’s MA Mainline Become East-West Passenger Corridor? 06.November – Attorneys for Norfolk Southern Railways filed a letter with the Surface Transportation Board, arguing that a CSX acquisition of the PAS Patriot Corridor would fundamentally alter the region’s competitive dynamic, that the Board should involve itself from the very beginning of a transaction. […]
FINK'S LETTER TO EMPLOYEES REGARDING CSX SALE AFFIRMS WHAT IT DENIES.
09.November – The NS letter to STB blew up the railroading internet like a Broadway beauty parlor after opening night. PAR has done a great job of making sure that no news of the sale has gotten out, they couldn’t do anything about this bit getting in. It must have caused a stir. On Mon.09.Nov […]
VERSATILE RAILROADING MASKS REGIONAL WEAKNESS DUE TO DISTANCE FROM PRODUCTION, LIMITED TRANSPORTATION, SEASONAL SWINGS.
Energy security is an annual challenge in the northeast. In particular, New England relies heavily on LPG (propane) for residential and commercial heat. Uniquely among the propane market regions, New England possesses no propane production or propane pipeline connection to other regions. One hundred percent of New England’s propane supply is imported by rail and […]
AUTOMATED, RAIL-ORIENTED QUEBEC CITY TERMINAL WILL SIPHON 1.6 MILLION TEU FROM PANYNJ, MONTREAL, NORFOLK, HALIFAX.
According to the highly-detailed May.2020 report, Laurentia project: An Analysis of Economic Issues, the proposed container terminal within the Port of Quebec will draw its projected 1.6 million TEU throughput objective primarily from U.S. East Coast ports, with only relatively small negative effect on Montreal and Halifax. It will also substantially increase rail intermodal traffic […]
BOARD GRANTS EXEMPTION FOR EASEMENT AND OPERATION ON 8.4-MILE LINE.
14. October, Washington DC – From the Board’s Decision: Grafton and Upton Railroad Company (G&U) [is permitted to] acquire by easement and operate approximately 8.4 miles of rail line (known as the Milford Secondary) between milepost QVG 0.0 and milepost QVG 8.4 in Milford, Bellingham, and Franklin, Mass. … which is owned by CSX Transportation, […]
STRANGERS ON THE TRAIN INDICATE PAR SALE ON A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TRACK THAN EVERYONE EXPECTED. CSX, NS, AND CONRAIL SENIOR EXECUTIVES COMB EAST DEERFIELD AND MECHANICVILLE YARDS.
15.October, East Deerfield MA – After weeks running back and forth along the PAR Main Line beneath peaking New England foliage, leaving only a churning wake of fluttering fallen leaves and head-scratching speculation, the post-PAR world is taking some shape. After disposing of countless rumors and gathering the few plausible truths, a surprising but sensible prospect has emerged to resolve the […]
REFLECTING LEASE AGREEMENT WITH CSX, GRAFTON & UPTON FILES EXEMPTION TO OPERATE ALONG 8.4-MILE MILFORD SECONDARY, RECENTLY RECONNECTED TO G&U's HOPEDALE TRACK AFTER DECADES APART.
28.September, Grafton MA – The Milford Secondary begins at the Franklin Line in Franklin MA, running 8.35 miles through Bellingham and Hopedale, before terminating at Central St. in Milford. The connection to G&U is at MP 8.0. G&U now connects CSX’s two primary New England rail assets, the main line between Albany (Selkirk Yard) and Boston […]
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has selected 50 projects in 29 states to receive competitive grant funding under the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program. The projects selected include a wide variety of railroad investments that improve the safety, efficiency, and reliability of freight and […]
