Feasibility of starting a Shortline in 2024?

I've been reading a lot about starting a shortline railroad and was wondering how feasible that is currently, since most of the resources I've found are over a decade old. I'm assuming the hardest part would be convincing a railroad to turn over a section of track to you, or give you trackage rights to serve customers. However, since railroads are continuing the trend of selling off industrial lines with smaller less frequent customers, there may still be an opportunity. That being said, if someone was interested in doing this, how would they go about-

A. Securing investors and funding
B. Getting in front of anyone with decision-making power at the Class I's.
C. Identifying a potential route, customers, and running an accurate financial assessment.

Unless you have some sort of inside information regarding lines considered marginal by a Class I, your best resource to see what might be on the market would probably be to look at the STB filings railroads are (I think) required to provide regarding potential abandonment filings over the next few years as well as explicitly proposed abandonments. There's a mechanism as part of that to provide what's known as an "offer of financial assistance" to keep a line running, which I think would allow for purchasing the line from the Class I. Aside from that, the rest is a matter of developing a business plan and giving it a shot. I don't think it's an easy task, though.

jamoldover wrote: ↑Sat May 11, 2024 1:48 pm Unless you have some sort of inside information regarding lines considered marginal by a Class I, your best resource to see what might be on the market would probably be to look at the STB filings railroads are (I think) required to provide regarding potential abandonment filings over the next few years as well as explicitly proposed abandonments. There's a mechanism as part of that to provide what's known as an "offer of financial assistance" to keep a line running, which I think would allow for purchasing the line from the Class I. Aside from that, the rest is a matter of developing a business plan and giving it a shot. I don't think it's an easy task, though.

Funny enough, that's where I got the idea from. I was reading an old June 2022 issue of Trains where a Michigan Shortline was acquired that way. There was a massive conflict over what would happen to the line though, so my thought was working with the Class I directly might simplify the process. But then again, like you said, you'd need some kind of connection or inside knowledge.

Many shortlines are supported by freight rail grants from state DOTs, or other subsidy such as the state, county, or
a regional agency owning the line and offering an operating contract or lease to the carrier. This allows the carrier
to avoid high property taxes on owned trackage, while allowing government to preserve and maintain secondary
or branch line trackage.