Conrail Shared Assets Operations


Conrail Shared Assets Operations or CSAO is the commonly used name for modern-day Conrail. Conrail is an American railroad company. It operates three networks—the North Jersey, South Jersey/Philadelphia, and Detroit Shared Assets Areas, where it serves as a contract local carrier and switching company for its owners, CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway. When most of the former Conrail's track was split between these two railroads, the three shared assets areas were kept separate to avoid giving one railroad an advantage in those areas. The company operates using its own employees and infrastructure, but owns no equipment outside MOW equipment.

North Jersey Shared Assets Area

The North Jersey Shared Assets Area stretches from the North Bergen Yard in North Bergen, New Jersey south into Jersey City and Newark, and beyond to Manville and Trenton, much of which is operated over Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and New Jersey Transit lines through trackage rights. Primary connections are to CSX's River Subdivision north to Albany, New York at North Bergen, NS's Southern Tier Line northwest to Buffalo, New York at Croxton Yard in Jersey City, NS's Lehigh Line west to Allentown, Pennsylvania and CSX's Trenton Subdivision southwest to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Manville, and the Conrail South Jersey/Philadelphia Shared Assets Area at Trenton. Oak Island Yard is the principal yard for the region with smaller ones at Bayonne, Greenville, Linden, Manville, Metuchen, Newark, Old Bridge and Port Reading.
Passaic and Harsimus Line "P&HL" - formerly Northeast Corridor at Waverly, New Jersey, now Oak Island Yard to Jersey City
The New Jersey Department of Transportation anticipated in 2010 increased freight activity in South Jersey that has led to capital improvement and expansion projects for this designated area.
The South Jersey/Philadelphia Shared Assets Area is operated out of Pavonia Yard in Camden, New Jersey, with smaller yards in Marcus Hook, Paulsboro, Millville, Morrisville, Frankford Junction, Burlington, Port Richmond and South Philadelphia.
The south track at the Delair Lift Bridge is used by Conrail; the north track is used by New Jersey Transit's Atlantic City Line.

Detroit Shared Assets Area

The Detroit Shared Assets Area consists of:
CP-West Detroit, Delray, CP-YD, and River Rouge Yard lie close to each other on the Utica/MP 20 line, giving the whole a rough K-shape. Various spurs and industrial tracks branch off from this trackage. Mileage in both directions is measured from the Michigan Central Railway Tunnel.

Locomotives

Conrail Shared Assets utilizes the following types of locomotives, all supplied by CSX and Norfolk Southern.