CHICAGO — Louisville & Indiana Railroad (LIRC), an affiliate of Chicago-based Anacostia Rail Holdings Company, has acquired the assets and operating rights of the former Southern Indiana Railway (SIND), a short line located in the Louisville area. 

Until 2020, SIND served customers along a 5.5-mile line between Speed and a connection with CSX Transportation at Watson, Ind. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board approved the acquisition on April 5, noting that with SIND out of service, no current employees are affected by the action. Louisville & Indiana will use SIND rail assets to enhance its existing freight service, including conversion of the SIND engine house to a maintenance-of-way facility.

“We see this as a way to grow our footprint,” said LIRC President John Goldman. “The existing track is maintained to FRA Class 1 standards, and we will consider upgrades and rehabilitation dependent on commercial opportunities we can create.”

Southern Indiana Railway traced its history to the 1905 expansion of the Louisville & Northern Electric Traction Company, an interurban line owned by Chicago utility magnate Samuel Insull, and the subsequent 1939 sale of a portion of the line to form Southern Indiana Railway, which remained in operation until 2020.