New England Central Railroad - History

History

The New England Central Railroad is the successor to the Central Vermont Railway, which was sold by the CN to the RailTex Corp. in 1995, at which point it was renamed the New England Central.

The new railroad was marked by improved service compared to the old Central Vermont, as well as more flexible crew arrangements, both of which led to a resurgence of the line. Within a year of NECR's takeover of the line declining traffic flow was reversed, with the railroad handling more than 30,000 carloads annually within two years of commencing operations, in contrast to the old CV, which had suffered through years of declining traffic and the loss of profitability. NECR's motive power initially consisted of former Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad EMD GP38DCs, although by the late 1990s, leased locomotives, largely former Conrail EMD SD40s, entered service.

In 2000, Railtex was acquired by RailAmerica, which was subsequently bought in 2007 by Fortress Investments. Neither change in ownership affected the NECR to any great extent.

In 2010, the railroad operated freight trains at night in order not to conflict with the Amtrak schedule. This led to sounding horns at unprotected crossings when nearby residents were sleeping. Some residents in Winooski complained.

On 9 November 2010, the railroad began construction on a project to raise speeds on trackage within Vermont to 59 miles per hour (95 km/h), with speeds on the route south of White River Junction being increased to 79 miles per hour (127 km/h) for passenger service. The upgrades were part of a project to decrease running times for Amtrak's Vermonter, which operates over the route. Construction was funded by a $70 million grant from the federal government, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

At the end of August 2011, the NECR was severely impacted by flood waters from Hurricane Irene. Though downgraded by this time to a tropical storm, Irene inflicted major damage between Montpelier and White River Junction, completely washing away about 2,000 feet (610 m) of roadbed and leaving welded rail and ties suspended in mid-air. Two bridges over the White River were also heavily damaged, but the line from White River Junction to New London was not affected as severely. At first it was estimated that repairs would take 4 to 6 weeks. However, with repair crews working around the clock to replace the washed-out ballast and shore up the bridges, the railroad was reopened for traffic by mid-September.