Joint railway
Encyclopedia
A joint railway is a railway operating under the control of more than one railway company: those companies very often supplying the traction over the railway.
. The more important ones included:
s in the United States
. Most true example of joint railways are in terminal areas, including union station
s. Terminal railways are often co-owned by the railroads that connect with them. Among the more prominent joint operations were:
The concept of trackage rights is more common than joint railways in the United States. The railroad that owns the track permits trains from another railroad to use the line. The owner railroad normally charges a fee, but sometimes there is no charge because the arrangement results from a merger or sale of a line. For instance, when the Louisville and Nashville Railroad
acquired the Monon Railroad
a condition of the sale imposed by government regulators was a trackage rights arrangement over the southern part of the Monon for the Milwaukee Road, an agreement that was handed down to successive owners of the Milwaukee Road and finally the Indiana Rail Road
.
Variations on trackage rights include "direction running" agreements between two railroads with parallel lines through an area, usually done to facilitate greater traffic volume. For instance, CSX and NS have a directional-running agreement between downtown Cincinnati, Ohio
and nearby Hamilton
, where northbound trains generally use NS trackage and southbound trains (with the exception of Amtrak
's Cardinal) use CSX tracks. North of Hamilton, NS trains use CSX tracks on a traditional trackage-rights agreement for a two-mile (3 km) section.
United Kingdom
There are many examples of joint railway working in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The more important ones included:
- Midland and Great Northern Joint RailwayMidland and Great Northern Joint RailwayThe Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway, was a joint railway owned by the Midland Railway and the Great Northern Railway in eastern England, affectionately known as the 'Muddle and Get Nowhere' to generations of passengers, enthusiasts, and other users.The main line ran from Peterborough to...
(M&GN): Midland RailwayMidland RailwayThe Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
and Great Northern RailwayGreat Northern Railway (Great Britain)The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
(MR/GNR), latterly London and North Eastern RailwayLondon and North Eastern RailwayThe London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...
and London, Midland and Scottish RailwayLondon, Midland and Scottish RailwayThe London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
(LNER/LMS). This was the UK's biggest joint railway system at 183 miles (295 km) and operated with its own locomotives and rolling stockRailroad carA railroad car or railway vehicle , also known as a bogie in Indian English, is a vehicle on a rail transport system that is used for the carrying of cargo or passengers. Cars can be coupled together into a train and hauled by one or more locomotives...
. The system stretched mainly east-west from Great Yarmouth via South Lynn to Bourne and Peterborough and thence via the parent companies' systems to Leicester and the Midlands and to London King's Cross. A north-south route ran from Norwich City to Cromer. The two routes crossed at Melton Constable, the joint railway's main engineering centre. - Cheshire Lines CommitteeCheshire Lines CommitteeThe Cheshire Lines Committee was the second largest joint railway in Great Britain, with 143 route miles. Despite its name, approximately 55% of its system was in Lancashire. In its publicity material it was often styled as the Cheshire Lines Railway...
: Great NorthernGreat Northern Railway (Great Britain)The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
, Great CentralGreat Central RailwayThe Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...
and Midland RailwayMidland RailwayThe Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
s (GNR/GCR/MidR), 140 miles (224 km) operated with its own rolling stockRailroad carA railroad car or railway vehicle , also known as a bogie in Indian English, is a vehicle on a rail transport system that is used for the carrying of cargo or passengers. Cars can be coupled together into a train and hauled by one or more locomotives...
. - Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint RailwayGreat Northern and Great Eastern Joint RailwayThe Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway was a joint railway owned by the Great Northern Railway and its rival, the Great Eastern Railway. It was established in the early 1880s, and the joint company built a new, primarily freight, route between Cambridge and Doncaster, a distance of...
: the Great NorthernGreat Northern Railway (Great Britain)The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
and Great EasternGreat Eastern RailwayThe Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...
Railways. From HuntingdonHuntingdon railway stationHuntingdon Railway Station serves the town of Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire. The station is on the East Coast Main Line and has three platforms; one bay and two through platforms...
and SpaldingSpalding railway stationSpalding railway station serves the town of Spalding in Lincolnshire, England.Spalding is on the branch line to Lincoln operated by a roughly hourly service in both directions usually by Class 153 single car units...
to DoncasterDoncaster railway stationDoncaster railway station serves the town of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the East Coast Main Line north of London Kings Cross, and is about five minutes walk from Doncaster town centre. The station is managed by East Coast...
, with a branch to RamseyRamsey, CambridgeshireRamsey is a small Cambridgeshire market town and parish, north of Huntingdon and St Ives. For local government purposes it lies in the district of Huntingdonshire within the local government county of Cambridgeshire....
. 123 miles (197 km) - Somerset and Dorset Joint RailwaySomerset and Dorset Joint RailwayThe Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway – almost always referred to as "the S&D" – was an English railway line connecting Bath in north east Somerset and Bournemouth now in south east Dorset but then in Hampshire...
: London and South Western RailwayLondon and South Western RailwayThe London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in...
(LSWR) and Midland RailwayMidland RailwayThe Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
. 101 miles (162 km) operated, with its own locomotives and rolling stockRailroad carA railroad car or railway vehicle , also known as a bogie in Indian English, is a vehicle on a rail transport system that is used for the carrying of cargo or passengers. Cars can be coupled together into a train and hauled by one or more locomotives...
until 1930. - East London Railway: the Great EasternGreat Eastern RailwayThe Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...
, London, Brighton and South CoastLondon, Brighton and South Coast RailwayThe London, Brighton and South Coast Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its apex, practically the whole coastline of Sussex as its base, and a large part of Surrey...
, South Eastern and ChathamSouth Eastern and Chatham RailwayThe South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee , known by its shorter name of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Eastern Railway and London, Chatham and Dover Railway , that operated services between...
, MetropolitanMetropolitan railwayMetropolitan Railway can refer to:* Metropolitan line, part of the London Underground* Metropolitan Railway, the first underground railway to be built in London...
and DistrictMetropolitan District RailwayThe Metropolitan District Railway was the predecessor of the District line of the London Underground. Set up on 29 July 1864, at first to complete the "Inner Circle" railway around central London, it was gradually extended into the suburbs...
Railways (GER/LBSCR/SE&CR/MetR/District) 7 miles (11 km) - Metropolitan and Great Central Joint Committee: the MetropolitanMetropolitan railwayMetropolitan Railway can refer to:* Metropolitan line, part of the London Underground* Metropolitan Railway, the first underground railway to be built in London...
and Great CentralGreat Central RailwayThe Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...
Railways - Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway: LNWR/GCR. 9 miles (14 km). ElectrifiedRailway electrification systemA railway electrification system supplies electrical energy to railway locomotives and multiple units as well as trams so that they can operate without having an on-board prime mover. There are several different electrification systems in use throughout the world...
in 1931 - Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railway: the CaledonianCaledonian RailwayThe Caledonian Railway was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century and it was absorbed almost a century later into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in the 1923 railway grouping, by means of the Railways Act 1921...
, Glasgow and South WesternGlasgow and South Western RailwayThe Glasgow and South Western Railway , one of the pre-grouping railway companies, served a triangular area of south-west Scotland, between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle...
, London and North WesternLondon and North Western RailwayThe London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
and MidlandMidland RailwayThe Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
Railways. 82 miles (131 km) http://www.leverton.org/tunnels/ppwig - Preston and Wyre Joint RailwayPreston and Wyre Joint Railwayright|256px|thumb|Carleton level crossing between Poulton-le-Fylde and Laytonright|256px|thumb|Thornton for Cleveleys station, 2005The Preston and Wyre Joint Railway – in full, the Preston & Wyre Railway and Dock Company – was the result of a merger in 1839 between:* Preston & Wyre...
: L&YR/LNWR. 45 miles (72 km) - Great Western and Great Central Railways Joint Committee: the Great WesternGreat Western RailwayThe Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
and Great CentralGreat Central RailwayThe Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...
Railways. 41 miles (66 km) - Severn and Wye Joint Railway: Great Western RailwayGreat Western RailwayThe Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
and Midland RailwayMidland RailwayThe Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
. 39 miles (62 km) - Shrewsbury and Hereford RailwayShrewsbury and Hereford RailwayThe Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway was an independently developed English railway, the first to run train services in Herefordshire.Built between 1850 and 1853, it crossed a number of services by both the Great Western Railway and London and North Western Railway companies, became a joint...
: the Great WesternGreat Western RailwayThe Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
and London and North WesternLondon and North Western RailwayThe London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
Railways. 56 miles (90 km) - Shrewsbury and Wellington Railway: the Great WesternGreat Western RailwayThe Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
and London and North WesternLondon and North Western RailwayThe London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
Railways. 10.5 miles (17 km) - South Yorkshire Joint RailwaySouth Yorkshire Joint RailwaySouth Yorkshire Joint Railway was a committee formed in 1903, between the Great Central Railway , the Great Northern Railway , the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway , the Midland Railway and the North Eastern Railway to oversee the construction of a new railway in the Doncaster area of South...
: GCR/GNR/L&YR/MidR/NER. 20 miles (32 km) - Furness and Midland Joint Railway: 9½ miles (15 km) http://home.clara.net/gw0hqd/fandm/fandm.htm
- Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Joint Committee: MetropolitanMetropolitan railwayMetropolitan Railway can refer to:* Metropolitan line, part of the London Underground* Metropolitan Railway, the first underground railway to be built in London...
and Metropolitan District RailwayMetropolitan District RailwayThe Metropolitan District Railway was the predecessor of the District line of the London Underground. Set up on 29 July 1864, at first to complete the "Inner Circle" railway around central London, it was gradually extended into the suburbs...
, Mansion HouseMansion House tube stationMansion House is a London Underground station in the City of London, near Mansion House . It is a sub-surface station served by trains on the Circle and District Lines. It is between Blackfriars and Cannon Street stations. The station is located at the junction of Queen Victoria Street and Cannon...
to AldgateAldgate tube stationAldgate tube station is a London Underground station located at Aldgate in the City of London.The station is on the Circle Line between Tower Hill and Liverpool Street. It is also the eastern terminus of the Metropolitan Line...
on the Circle Line. 1 mile (1.5 km) - Norfolk and Suffolk Joint RailwayNorfolk and Suffolk Joint RailwayThe Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway was a British joint railway company.The NSJR was owned by the Great Eastern Railway and the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway and consisted of two distinct sections: a line between North Walsham and Cromer via Mundesley, and a coastal section running...
(N&S): the Midland and Great Northern and the Great Eastern RailwayGreat Eastern RailwayThe Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...
). There were two stretches of line: the most important ran along the East Anglian coast from Lowestoft to Yarmouth, while a much shorter stretch ran from Cromer to Mundesley on the North Norfolk coast. This line was a unique joint railway in that one of its parents was itself a joint railway. - Axholme Joint Railway : North EasternNorth Eastern Railway (UK)The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...
and Lancashire and Yorkshire RailwayLancashire and Yorkshire RailwayThe Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways...
s (NER/LYR) 27.5 miles (44 km) - Forth Bridge Railway: the North BritishNorth British RailwayThe North British Railway was a Scottish railway company that was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923.-History:...
, Great NorthernGreat Northern Railway (Great Britain)The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
, North EasternNorth Eastern Railway (UK)The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...
and MidlandMidland RailwayThe Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
Railways. 2765 yds (2528 m) - County Donegal Railways Joint CommitteeCounty Donegal Railways Joint CommitteeThe County Donegal Railways Joint Committee operated an extensive 3 foot gauge railway system serving county Donegal, Ireland,from 1906 until 1960...
: the Northern Counties CommitteeNorthern Counties CommitteeThe Northern Counties Committee was a railway that served the north-east of Ireland. It was built to Irish gauge but later acquired a number of narrow gauge lines...
and Great Northern Railway (Ireland)Great Northern Railway (Ireland)The Great Northern Railway was an Irish gauge railway company in Ireland.The Great Northern was formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway , Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. The Ulster Railway was the GNRI's oldest constituent, having opened between Belfast and...
. 111 miles (178 km) of narrow gauge track in Northern IrelandNorthern IrelandNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and the Republic of IrelandRepublic of IrelandIreland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, with its own locomotives and rolling stockRailroad carA railroad car or railway vehicle , also known as a bogie in Indian English, is a vehicle on a rail transport system that is used for the carrying of cargo or passengers. Cars can be coupled together into a train and hauled by one or more locomotives...
.
United States
"Joint railways" are called terminal railroadTerminal Railroad
Terminal Railroad or Terminal Railway may refer to:*Terminal railroad, a railroad that operates a terminal facility*Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks*Terminal Railway of Buffalo, predecessor of the New York Central Railroad...
s in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Most true example of joint railways are in terminal areas, including union station
Union station
A union station is the term used for a train station where tracks and facilities are shared by two or more railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently between them...
s. Terminal railways are often co-owned by the railroads that connect with them. Among the more prominent joint operations were:
- Belt Railway of ChicagoBelt Railway of ChicagoThe Belt Railway of Chicago , headquartered in Chicago, is the largest switching terminal railroad in the United States. It is co-owned by six Class I railroads — BNSF Railway, Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Union...
(BRC), the largest terminal switching railroad in the U.S., co-owned by all the "Big Six" American Class I railroadClass I railroadA Class I railroad in the United States and Mexico, or a Class I rail carrier in Canada, is a large freight railroad company, as classified based on operating revenue.Smaller railroads are classified as Class II and Class III...
s: Union Pacific RailroadUnion Pacific RailroadThe Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
, CSX TransportationCSX TransportationCSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
, Norfolk Southern RailwayNorfolk Southern RailwayThe Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...
, BNSF RailwayBNSF RailwayThe BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...
, Canadian National RailwayCanadian National RailwayThe Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
and Canadian Pacific RailwayCanadian Pacific RailwayThe Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
. - Terminal Railroad Association of St. LouisTerminal Railroad Association of St. LouisThe Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis is a terminal railroad owned by railroads in St. Louis, Missouri which handles traffic through its metropolitan area.-Components:It was founded in 1889 in a deal orchestrated by Jay Gould by:...
(TRRA), with extensive operations in East St. Louis, IllinoisEast St. Louis, IllinoisEast St. Louis is a city located in St. Clair County, Illinois, USA, directly across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 27,006, less than one-third of its peak of 82,366 in 1950...
and St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, and co-owned by all the Big Six except the Canadian Pacific. - Conrail Shared Assets OperationsConrail Shared Assets OperationsConrail Shared Assets Operations is an American railroad company. It operates three networks—the North Jersey, South Jersey/Philadelphia, and Detroit Shared Assets Areas, where it serves as a local carrier and switching company for CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway...
(CSAO), the last corporate remnant of Conrail, which was formed from the remains of several bankrupt railroads in 1976; that company was split between CSX and Norfolk Southern, which formed CSAO in northern New JerseyNew JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, greater Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
and greater Detroit, MichiganDetroit, MichiganDetroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. Unlike the BRC and TRRA, CSAO uses crews and locomotives from its two parent companies, though the former Conrail paint scheme is still seen on numerous locomotives and freight cars that CSX and NS inherited. - The Powder River basinPowder River BasinThe Powder River Basin is a geologic region in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming, about east to west and north to south, known for its coal deposits. The region supplies about 40 percent of coal in the United States. It is both a topographic drainage and geologic structural basin...
joint line, co-owned by BNSF and Union Pacific to serve the area's numerous coal mines.
The concept of trackage rights is more common than joint railways in the United States. The railroad that owns the track permits trains from another railroad to use the line. The owner railroad normally charges a fee, but sometimes there is no charge because the arrangement results from a merger or sale of a line. For instance, when the Louisville and Nashville Railroad
Louisville and Nashville Railroad
The Louisville and Nashville Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States.Chartered by the state of Kentucky in 1850, the L&N, as it was generally known, grew into one of the great success stories of American business...
acquired the Monon Railroad
Monon Railroad
The Monon Railroad , also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway from 1897–1956, operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana...
a condition of the sale imposed by government regulators was a trackage rights arrangement over the southern part of the Monon for the Milwaukee Road, an agreement that was handed down to successive owners of the Milwaukee Road and finally the Indiana Rail Road
Indiana Rail Road
The Indiana Rail Road is a United States Class II railroad, originally operating over former Illinois Central Railroad trackage from Newton, Illinois to Indianapolis, Indiana, a distance of 155 miles...
.
Variations on trackage rights include "direction running" agreements between two railroads with parallel lines through an area, usually done to facilitate greater traffic volume. For instance, CSX and NS have a directional-running agreement between downtown Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
and nearby Hamilton
Hamilton, Ohio
Hamilton is a city in Butler County, southwestern Ohio, United States. The population was 62,447 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Butler County. The city is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area....
, where northbound trains generally use NS trackage and southbound trains (with the exception of Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
's Cardinal) use CSX tracks. North of Hamilton, NS trains use CSX tracks on a traditional trackage-rights agreement for a two-mile (3 km) section.
See also
- List of early British railway companies
- List of railway companies involved in the 1923 grouping
- Joint station (UK), Union stationUnion stationA union station is the term used for a train station where tracks and facilities are shared by two or more railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently between them...
(USA)