BURLINGTON, Vt. — Vermont Rail System has reached an agreement to purchase assets and operating rights of the New Hampshire Central Railroad to expand its operations in northern New Hampshire, the companies announced Tuesday.
“VRS has a 60-year tradition of helping local businesses with efficient and reliable freight service,” Selden Houghton, Vermont Rail System president, said in a statement, “and we are excited at the opportunity to grow and expand by providing economical rail service to customers in northern New Hampshire.
New Hampshire Central, founded in 1993, operates more than 56 miles of track leased from the state between North Stratford and Colebrook and between Groveton and Littleton, N.H., interchanging with the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad. It will continue to operate under the New Hampshire Central name.
New Hampshire Central owner Edward W. Jeffrey said, “I couldn’t be happier to know that such a dedicated group will continue to serve New Hampshire businesses and grow this important link to the regional and national rail network.”
The railroad will become the seventh in the Vermont Rail System, which currently operates more than 400 miles of track in Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York through its Vermont Railway, Green Mountain Railroad, Clarendon & Pittsford Railroad, Washington County Railroad; New York & Odgensburg Railway, and New England Southern Railroad.
The New Hampshire Central deal is subject to state and federal regulatory approval.
