The Luzerne and Susquehanna Railway, which operates a shortline railroad owned by the Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority, is among the group involved in a pending sale with Kentucky-based R.J. Corman Railroad Group LLC. One of its freight trains is seen working the line near East Market Street in Wilkes-Barre last year.
Times Leader file photo
Railroad operating on Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority-owned line to be acquired by Kentucky-based R.J. Corman
The freight railway operating on the line owned by the Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority is among a group to be acquired by the Kentucky-based R.J. Corman Railroad Group LLC.
The close of the sale involving the Luzerne and Susquehanna Railway Co. and three other companies is awaiting regulatory approvals. Terms of the deal between privately held companies are not being disclosed, said Todd Bivins, director of Risk Management for R.J. Corman Railroad Group.
The Luzerne and Susquehanna Railway serves industrial customers on the shortline covering more than 60 miles, mostly in Luzerne County. It has a multi-year operating agreement with the Authority and leases the line.
R.J. Corman Railroad Group announced the pending acquisitions Wednesday in a press release. Its subsidiaries are also buying Owego and Harford Railway Inc., Lehigh Railway LLC and transload service provider TranZ from Steve May, president of the companies.
“This group of companies has a great reputation for being safe, customer-centric and innovative, which is evidenced in how they have brought new customers online and grown carload volume,” Ed Quinn, president and CEO of R. J. Corman Railroad Group, said in a press release.
May added that he has been in the railroad business for 48 years and worked for most of that time building the group of companies involved in the pending sale.
“It was extremely important that if and when I did decide to sell, it was to a company that saw the value in the people I employ and the customers I serve. I was very lucky to find a partner like R. J. Corman that possesses the knowledge and has the resources to do just that,” May said in a press release.
The shortline railways carry freight including sand, feed products, fertilizer, plastic, pipe, chemicals, drill cuttings and wood products. Combined, they transport more the 14,000 carloads annually and interchange with the Norfolk Southern Railway Co. and the Reading, Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad, the release said.
The Owego and Harford Railway operates on an approximately 27-mile line in New York state under a long-term lease from the Tioga County Industrial Development Agency.
Lehigh Railway covers 56 miles of track owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway Co. in the north central region of Pennsylvania. TranZ operates a bulk transfer station on the Lehigh Railway in Wyalusing in Bradford County.
R.J. Corman Railroad Group has more than 1,500 employees in 23 states. In Pennsylvania and nine other states, its subsidiary R.J. Corman Railroad Company operates 14 shortlines. Corman companies also provide services to the railroad industry, including emergency response, track construction, signal design and construction, and track material distribution.
Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.
