VOORHEESVILLE, N.Y. — The village of Voorheesville, thwarted in court in its effort to prevent a new Norfolk Southern crew-change facility, is now seeking to prevent the railroad from receiving future grants from the State of New York — as well as saying that the state should recover money already given to NS.
The Albany Times-Union reports that Voorheesville Mayor Richard Straut wrote Gov. Kathy Hochul in January, saying NS violated the terms of a $5 million state grant it received to rebuild an idled 15-mile line between Voorheesville and Delanson, N.Y., as part of its preparation to reroute intermodal traffic onto a CSX main line, allowing NS to run stack trains to Ayer, Mass. [See “Norfolk Southern launches …,” Trains.com, Jan. 14, 2026]. Its own route, via the Hoosac Tunnel, has insufficient clearance for double-stack trains.
Straut said in his letter that the contract for that grant required it to follow all state and local laws; the village contends the crew-change facility violates local zoning ordinances. In light of that, he wrote, the village is calling for NS to be added to the state’s “list of non-responsible, debarred or otherwise ineligible contractors — and precluded from applying for future grants” from the state. “The village also believes that the state should seek to claw back the grant funding it has already awarded to Norfolk Southern.”
The village had ordered NS to stop construction of the crew-change facility last fall because of the zoning dispute and concerns over traffic impacts of the facility. NS sued, citing federal preemption of local law in matters of interstate commerce. A federal judge found for the railroad [see “Judge’s ruling allows NS to proceed …,” Dec. 16, 2025]. The village, which had countersued, later dropped its legal action.
Norfolk Southern said in a statement to the newspaper that the village claims are “without merit,” and that it has “consistently acted in accordance with applicable law and regulatory requirements.” Hochul’s office did not respond to the Times-Union’s request for comment.
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If I was on the jury, I’d have a lot more sympathy for the town if they didn’t have a locomotive on their town seal. They have obviously welcomed the rial activity over the years and benefited from it. Its only two more trains a day on an already very busy CSX mainline.
All of this for 2 trains a day. I believe NS was allowed one intermodal in each direction on the Boston & Albany as a condition when CSX acquired Pan Am.
Must be a lot of Karen’s in that town with n excessive amount of money to waste. I have not grasped the reason for the town grievance that brought this action to this point.
I think part of the problem is, that some of these lines that are being rebuilt have seen little if any traffic. The lines all of sudden are important again and all the townspeople get up in arms. The trains probably predate the town. In MA a similar instance is the rebuilding of the line from Worcester to Ayer. Once a lazy line with limited speed and traffic, has been rebuilt and is a very active line with higher speeds. In Voorheesville NY the line mergers into the CSX main lines almost in the center of town, so I imagine it is less than convenient to add more trains to an already busy mainline that dissects the town with multiple crossings. But so it goes, towns will keep fighting the railroads and keep losing. Just adding to the taxpayer’s burden.
Why couldn’t NS change crews in Selkirk, a few miles east? Can Selkirk be so congested this isn’t possible without a new siding? And why should over-taxed NY taxpayers have to pay corporate welfare instead of a very profitable NS?
In the current political environment of attacking your opponents this is the appropriate response.
Sounds like a boxcar or two of sour grapes. Do they not realize that railroaders will be spending a dollar or two locally? I don’t know anything about the area at the new crew change point, but I can guarantee if there’s a gas station, grocery store or decent pizza joint near by, you’ll find NS employees going there.
Another case of local POLs going off the deep end. The tax payers should sue them for personal damages to be paid back to the city if they try to carry on this vendetta
Sounds to me like NIMBYs.
In light of the current situation the village might want to change its official logo to something other than a locomotive. Interestingly the village is named for a railroad attorney named Voorhees.
Guaranteed annual income for the lawyers. Guess you don’t have to follow local laws if superseded by federal law. Like smoking allowed in the Indian casinos.