CINCINNATI — In close balloting, Cincinnati voters have approved the sale of the city-owned Cincinnati Southern Railway to Norfolk Southern for $1.62 billion.
With 100% of precincts reporting, Issue 22 passed by a 51.6% to 48.4% margin — 43,173 votes to 40,599.
City officials, led by Mayor Aftab Pureval, had favored the sale, which will see the proceeds placed in a trust fund to generate annual funding for Cincinnati infrastructure projects. Opponents were opposed for a host of reasons, ranging from mistrust of NS in the wake of the East Palestine derailment to the belief the city should have been getting more for the 338-mile route from Cincinnati to Chattanooga, Tenn.
“The CSR Board of Trustees are excited about the historic value this remarkable asset will now deliver to current and future generations of Cincinnati citizens,” Paul Muething, president of the Cincinnati Southern board, said in a statement reported by WVXU Radio. “[We will] secure the services of a financial advisor, as prescribed in Ohio law, who will work with the Board to develop an investment policy and then, with expert fund managers, ensure the responsible, diversified and professional management of this new financial asset.”
Norfolk Southern spokesman Tom Crosson said in a statement to WVXU that the railroad would work with the city to finalize the sale, which it expects to close in the first quarter of 2024.
NS and its predecessors have leased the railroad from Cincinnati since 1881 and agreed to the purchase last year during negotiations over renewal of the current lease, which was set to expire in 2026 [see “Norfolk Southern to buy CNO&TP line …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 21, 2022]. The transaction has already been approved by the Surface Transportation Board [see “Federal regulators OK Norfolk Southern acquisition …,” News Wire, Sept. 20, 2023].
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