NORFOLK, Va. – The Surface Transportation Board has approved Norfolk Southern’s petition to discontinue service over 53.2 miles of the former Norfolk, Franklin & Danville trackage in southern Virginia. The discontinuance is in effect between milepost 37.0, near Franklin, and the end of the line at milepost 90.2 near Lawrenceville.
In its filing, NS told regulators the line requires $5.9 million in track and bridge rehabilitation work to restore it to Federal Railroad Administration Class I track standards, good for 10 mph freight movement. In the 12 months ending June 30, 2013, the railroad handled 414 carloads over the line.
The line is former Atlantic & Danville, a short line that NS predecessor Norfolk & Western acquired in 1962 and renamed Norfolk, Franklin & Danville. It was later integrated into the NS system.
