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Conrail Shared Assets Operations

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Conrail Shared Assets Operations
Company typeJoint venture
IndustryRail transport
Founded1999
Headquarters
Mount Laurel, New Jersey
,
United States
Area served
North Jersey, South Jersey/Philadelphia, Detroit areas
ProductsLocal carrier and switching services
OwnerCSX Transportation (42%), Norfolk Southern Railway (58%)

Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CSAO) represents the contemporary form of Conrail (reporting mark CRCX), a U.S.-based rail company managing three distinct networks: the North Jersey, South Jersey/Philadelphia, and Detroit Shared Assets Areas. Acting as a contracted local carrier and switching service provider, CSAO operates on behalf of its proprietors, CSX Transportation (42%) and Norfolk Southern Railway (58%). These shared asset regions, which encompass approximately 1,200 miles of track, are maintained independently to avoid any competitive imbalance between the two owners. While CSAO employs its own personnel and maintains infrastructure, it does not possess rolling stock aside from MOW equipment. The organization's central office is situated in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.

North Jersey Shared Assets Area

The North Jersey Shared Assets Area stretches from North Bergen Yard in North Bergen, New Jersey, continuing southward through Jersey City and Newark, reaching Manville (Port Reading Junction) and Trenton. It utilizes trackage rights over segments of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and New Jersey Transit routes. Important linkages include CSX's River Subdivision heading to Albany at North Bergen; Norfolk Southern's Southern Tier Line running to Buffalo at Croxton Yard in Jersey City; Norfolk Southern's Lehigh Line extending westward to Allentown, Pennsylvania; CSX's Trenton Subdivision moving southwest to Philadelphia at Manville; and the South Jersey/Philadelphia Shared Assets connection at Trenton. The main yard is located at Oak Island Yard in Newark, complemented by smaller facilities at Bayonne, Greenville (Jersey City), Linden, Manville, Metuchen, Old Bridge, and Port Reading in Woodbridge.

Significant rail lines include:

  • Center Street Branch, situated in Kearny Meadows
  • Passaic and Harsimus Line, linking Oak Island Yard with Jersey City
  • National Docks Branch, running from Bergen Junction to Oak Island Yard
  • Garden State Secondary (previously known as Chemical Coast Line), connecting Oak Island Yard to Perth Amboy
  • Lehigh Line, spanning from Bayonne to the Trenton Subdivision and Lehigh Line at Manville
  • Amboy Secondary (comprising Amboy Branch and Jamesburg Branch), linking William with Midway Amtrak station and the NJ Transit North Jersey Coast Line
  • Sayreville Running Track, Gillespie Running Track, Phoenix Branch
  • Southern Secondary, operating under trackage rights across NJ Transit's North Jersey Coast Line between South Amboy and Red Bank for interchange with Delaware and Raritan River Railroad
  • Port Reading Secondary, extending from Port Reading Junction to Bound Brook where it connects with the Lehigh Line—recently enhanced
  • Staten Island Railroad, running from Elizabeth over the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge to Arlington Yard, including the Travis Industrial Track serving the Fresh Kills waste transfer site
  • Hightstown Industrial Track, extending from the Amboy Secondary junction in Jamesburg to Cranbury
  • Bonhamtown Branch, running from the NEC south of Metuchen station to Raritan Center with interchange access to Raritan Central Railway at Metuchen Yard

These infrastructure components enable CSAO’s vital function in supporting regional freight operations while ensuring impartiality between its parent entities.

South Jersey/Philadelphia Shared Assets Area

The South Jersey/Philadelphia Shared Assets Area is headquartered at Pavonia Yard in Camden, New Jersey, with supplementary yards located in Marcus Hook, Paulsboro, Millville, Morrisville, Frankford Junction, Burlington, Port Richmond, and South Philadelphia. Since 2010, this area has experienced a rise in freight traffic, leading to various capital upgrades and expansion initiatives.

Important tracks and corridors include:

  • The Atlantic City Line, which holds trackage rights on New Jersey Transit from the Bordentown Secondary at Delair to Winslow Junction, New Jersey.
  • The Bordentown Secondary (encompassing the Amboy Branch and Bordentown Branch), linking CP Hatch to the Northeast Corridor at Millham in Trenton, New Jersey.
    • The Robbinsville Industrial Track extends from Bordentown to Yardville in Hamilton Township.
  • The Northeast Corridor, where trackage rights are held along Amtrak from the Northern New Jersey border at Princeton Junction through to Philadelphia.
  • The Delair Branch, running from CP Hatch Delair to the CSX (Philadelphia Subdivision) at Park Junction in Philadelphia.
  • The Pemberton Industrial Track, connecting NJT CP Jordan (Pennsauken) to Hainesport.
  • The Beesley's Point Secondary and Vineland Secondary stretch from CP Brown in Camden to the Beesley's Point Industrial Track at Palermo; as of 2022, primary trackage rights are leased to Cape May Seashore Lines, while Conrail retains secondary rights linked to the closed B.L. England Generating Station site.
    • The Beesley's Point Industrial Track connects via the Beesley's Point Secondary at Palermo.
  • The Vineland Secondary runs from Camden Running track at CP Mill (situated at the southern end of Pavonia Yard) to Millville.
  • The Grenloch Industrial Track links the Vineland Secondary in Gloucester City with Interstate Business Park in Bellmawr.
  • The Penns Grove Secondary connects Salem Secondary and Vineland Secondary at Woodbury with the Deepwater Point Running Track at Penns Grove.
    • The Deepwater Point Running Track extends from Penns Grove to Deepwater.
  • The Salem Running Track connects Penns Grove Secondary and Vineland Secondary at Woodbury to Swedesboro for access to Southern Railroad of New Jersey's Salem Branch; this track has been leased to SRNJ since 2018.
  • The Chester Secondary runs from CSX RG yard at Eastwick to SEPTA's Airport Line at Lester, terminating at Eddystone.

This rail system underpins the company's freight strategies across vital industrial and commercial centers throughout South Jersey and Philadelphia, boosting operational efficiency and expanding market presence within this essential corridor.

Delair Bridge

Conrail operates the southern track of the Delair Lift Bridge (part of the Delair Branch), while the northern track is utilized by New Jersey Transit for its Atlantic City Line services.

Detroit Shared Assets Area

The Detroit Shared Assets Area encompasses the following lines:

  • Detroit Line, spanning from its junction with Norfolk Southern's Detroit Line in Gibraltar, Michigan at MP 20 to Conrail North Yard Branch located at CP-West Detroit.
  • North Yard Branch, which connects Conrail Detroit Line at CP-West Detroit with Sterling Secondary at CP-North Yard.
  • Sterling Secondary and Utica Industrial Track extend from CP-North Yard up to MP 27 terminus.
  • Michigan Line runs from CP-Townline in Dearborn (intersecting with the Amtrak Michigan Line) to CP-Bay City Jct.
  • The Lincoln Secondary, stretching from CSXT Toledo Terminal Subdivision at Carleton to Ecorse Junction in Detroit; operations on this line require EC-1 track authority forms issued by the CSX RL Dispatcher based in Calumet City, Illinois.

Key facilities such as CP-West Detroit, Delray, CP-YD, and River Rouge Yard are concentrated near the Utica/MP 20 corridor, creating a K-shaped rail network with several branch lines. Mileage is calculated beginning from the Michigan Central Railway Tunnel.

Locomotives

The locomotives utilized by Conrail Shared Assets are provided by CSX and Norfolk Southern, including the following models:

External links

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