CINCINNATI — Voters will have a chance to decide in November whether the Cincinnati Southern Railway will be sold.
The railway, which runs from Cincinnati to Chattanooga, Tennessee, stretches 336 miles through Kentucky and Tennessee. It has been owned by the City of Cincinnati for more than 140 years, the Cincinnati Southern Railway Board of Trustees unanimously voted Thursday to put the proposed sale on the ballot.
If majority of voters say yes to the sale at the November 7 election, the railway would fall under the ownership of Norfolk Southern Corp.
The Board of Trustees said that Cincinnati will receive $1.6 billion in the railroad sale, which will be put into a trust fund operated by the trustees with Cincinnati as the sole beneficiary.
Currently, the city makes roughly $25 million annually from the railway. The board said that $1.6 billion trust fund will likely more than double what future railroad lease payments would have garnered for the city, and at least $26.5 million would need to be annually allocated to the city.
These funds would then be used for existing Cincinnati infrastructure and other Cincinnati Southern Railway operations. The board also said this sale would help bridge the nearly $400 million funding gap found in Cincinnati's recently approved budget.
"The need to improve the City's existing infrastructure has never been greater," the CSR Board of Trustees said.
The board originally proposed in November 2022 that it wanted to sell the railroad to Norfolk Southern.
Amy Murray, who sits on the Board of Trustees, said this started when Norfolk Southern asked to negotiate a sale rather than renegotiate its lease with the city.
While the November election is months away, some are already sharing their opinions about the possible sale.
“Our forefathers and foremothers made the decision that railroad — this 300 miles of railroad, was critically important to the City of Cincinnati," said former Cincinnati Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman.
He said Cincinnati shouldn't sell its railway, but it especially shouldn't sell it to Norfolk Southern after the derailment in East Palestine.
Murray said because of the lease, Norfolk Southern had the first right of refusal. Plus, she said it's smart to sell right now.
“Even though we’re indemnified if there’s an accident on our track, we could still be sued," Murray said.
Smitherman also said he doesn't think $1.6 billion is enough compared to the roughly $25 million the city gets each year under the current lease.
“Those dollars are used for capital projects, why would we handcuff them?" he said.
Murray said the board would invest part of that $1.6 billion, increasing the money that goes to the City each year and the entire sum would go into a trust.
While state law specifies what this money can be used for, Smitherman is still skeptical that city leaders in the future won't find a way to change that.
Cincinnati is the only municipality in the U.S. to own an interstate railroad. It has been leased by Norfolk Southern since 1881. In 2021, that lease was extended through 2051.
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