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Posted by Gregg Pullano
on 11/6/2009, 9:35 pm, in reply to "Re: NS leaving Michigan?"
71.205.123.7
Okay, a few points...
1. As far as I know, the Lansing Secondary is not for sale at this time. One of NS' largest customers in the state, RSDC, is located at Holt. In the failed Michigan Central deal from 2007, NS wanted to retain overhead rights to serve RSDC - that should illustrate how important they are. RSDC is not the only customer on the line either. Lansing still has several industries that are served, as does Mason. That said, it still wouldn't surprise me if NS tried to sell the line at some point.
On the subject of the Michigan Line...
The state of Michigan applied for some of the $8 Billion in stimulus funds set aside for High Speed Rail development. In the application, they stated that the money would be used in part for "corridor acquisition". I have also heard persistent rumblings that NS would like to sell the Michigan Line to Amtrak. If we get the HSR money (we are competing with a number of other states) what will most likely happen is that Amtrak will purchase the Michigan Line from Kalamazoo to Ypsilanti/Willow Run and will contract the freight business out to NS, just like the current setup on the Michigan Corridor between Kalamazoo and Porter. Of course, non of this is for sure going to happen at this time and I don't really think NS has any big plans for the rest of its former Conrail lines in this state. We'll just have to see what happens.
"I Reject your reality and Substitute my own." -Adam Savage
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