Railroad Company Gets Official Permission to Give Up
Published Date: 12/15/2025
Notice
Summary
CSX Transportation is stopping train service on an 11-mile rail line in Oswego and Onondaga Counties, New York, because no one’s used it in two years. Local businesses and communities in zip codes 13027, 13069, and 13135 will be affected, but freight can take other routes. The change kicks in January 14, 2026, unless someone steps up to keep the trains running by December 26, 2025.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 1 mixed.
Rail employees get statutory protections
If any CSX employee is hurt by this service discontinuance, they will be protected under the employee protection rules set out in Oregon Short Line Railroad (360 I.C.C. 91 (1979)). A petition for partial revocation may be filed to question whether those protections are adequate.
Deadline to seek subsidy or stay: Dec 2025–Jan 2026
Parties who want to subsidize continued rail service must file a formal expression of intent to file an offer of financial assistance (OFA) by December 26, 2025. Petitions to stay must be filed by December 24, 2025, and petitions for reconsideration must be filed by January 5, 2026; if no OFA intent is filed, the discontinuance takes effect January 14, 2026.
11‑mile rail line service ends January 14, 2026
CSX will stop train service over an approximately 11.12‑mile rail line between milepost QCB 11.00 and QCB 22.12 on January 14, 2026 unless action is taken. The line runs through U.S. Postal Service Zip Codes 13027, 13069, and 13135, and CSX says overhead freight can be rerouted over other lines and that no local freight moved on the line during the past two years.
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Key Dates
Department and Agencies
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