CINCINNATI — Legislative discussions on the sale of Cincinnati's railroad were knocked off the tracks after the Ohio Senate president tabled the issue.
Trustees of the Cincinnati Southern Railway voted unanimously in November to sell the only interstate railroad in the U.S. owned by a municipality to Norfolk Southern. The sale would be for around $1.6 billion. Currently, the city makes around $25 million annually from the railroad.
The closing of the sale, though, cannot happen without approval from Cincinnati voters, regulatory clearance from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board and the "passage of proposed state law changes," according to a release from the city.
State law says the money would have to go toward city debt, but legislators are working to change the law to allow money to go toward an infrastructure trust for existing projects. State Sens. Bill Blessing and George Lang have been part of the discussions.
"The idea was to get this amendment through in presumably lame duck," Blessing said. "That's what they were pushing for, and then as the legislation states, they have to take this to the ballot. I just had problems with, you know, trying to do this in lame duck as an amendment. I just felt like it needed a lot more process a lot more public input."
Lang said he was ready to go but said "there's probably some wisdom in putting the brakes on (it) a bit" to ensure nothing goes wrong or impacts taxpayers.
Blessing said the amendment will likely go to the transportation budget for March approval. The city said the issue will not be on the ballot until changes are made to how the funds can be used.
The railway, which runs from Cincinnati to Chattanooga, TN, stretches 336 miles through Kentucky and Tennessee. The last rail spike was driven in on Dec. 10, 1879 and the first route from Cincinnati to Chattanooga was completed just one year later in 1880.
According to the city, the current lease for the railway expires in 2026.
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