New Railroad Takes Over California Tracks from Old Operators
Published Date: 3/28/2025
Notice
Summary
Santa Maria Valley Railroad, LLC is taking over rail lines in Santa Barbara County from Coast Belle Rail and Union Pacific. This means SMVR will run the trains instead of Coast Belle, starting soon after final agreements are done. The change won’t affect how the railroads connect with others, and no big money changes were mentioned.
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Santa Maria rail operator change
Santa Maria Valley Railroad, LLC (SMVR) will acquire and operate rail lines in Santa Barbara County that run between milepost 3.3 near Guadalupe and milepost 9.3 at Santa Maria, plus connecting branches (including UP Line milepost 0.0–3.3 and Betteravia Branch milepost 3.3–4.8). SMVR will replace Coast Belle as the common carrier on these lines and expects to begin operations on or after April 12, 2025; SMVR says it has provided notice to all customers on the Lines and certified it will not be contractually limited in interchanging traffic with third-party connecting carriers.
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Key Dates
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