The Cleveland Commercial Railroad is being acquired by OmniTRAX in a deal expected to close this week.
The sale price was not disclosed. As part of the transaction, the CCR will be renamed the Cleveland & Cuyahoga Railway while the CCR’s subsidiary Cleveland Harbor Belt Railroad will become the Cleveland Port Railway.
The CCR operates on 35 miles of former Wheeling & Lake Erie and Norfolk Southern (Erie Railroad) track on the southeast side of Cleveland while CHB handles switching at the Port of Cleveland facilities on Lake Erie.
Primary commodities handled by the two short lines are steel, scrap metals, grain and chemicals. The CCR interchanges with NS and the W&LE while CHB interchanges with NS and CSX.
OmniTRAX already operates the Newburgh & South Shore Railroad in Cleveland. It also operates the Northern Ohio & Western Railway near Toledo.
“We look forward to working with the Port of Cleveland and are confident our partnership will lead to significant growth in both marine and rail activity,” said OmniTrax CEO Kevin Shuba in a statement.
“We expect the partnership with the Port of Cleveland will be another example of the success OmniTRAX and its partners have achieved when rail and maritime work together.”
David Gutheil, chief commercial officer at the Port of Cleveland said his agency will work with OmniTRAX to build on-dock rail business.
Tags: Cleveland Commercial Railroad, Cleveland Harbor Belt Railroad, CSX, mergers and acquisitions, Norfolk Southern, Ohio short-line railroads, OmniTRAX, Port of Cleveland, Wheeling & Lake Erie
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