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Railroad company

The New England Central Railroad is a regional railroad in the New England region of the United States. It began operations in 1995, as the successor of the Central Vermont Railway (CV). The company was originally a subsidiary of holding company RailTex before being purchased by RailAmerica in 2000. In 2012, the company was purchased by Genesee & Wyoming, its current owner. The New England Central Railroad main line runs from New London, Connecticut, to Alburgh, Vermont, at the Canada–US border, a distance of 366 mile (589 km). Several short branch lines bring the company's total trackage to 384 miles. Primary sources of traffic include lumber, metals, chemicals, and crushed stone.

The Central Vermont Railway (CV) had long been owned and operated by Canadian railroads, first the Grand Trunk Railway and from 1927 the Canadian National Railway (CN); CN was in turn owned by the government of Canada. The Central Vermont's owners kept it a separate company, complete with its own fleet of green and yellow painted locomotives. The transaction was completed in early 1995.

The Central Vermont Railway transitioned to the New England Central Railroad starting on February 3, 1995, with the transition completed three days later on February 6. The company's rapid success led to it being named 1995's Short Line Railroad of the Year by industry trade journal Railway Age. NECR's motive power initially consisted of former Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad EMD GP38s, although by the late 1990s, leased locomotives, largely former Conrail EMD SD40 2s, entered service. The pier was rebuilt and opened in 1998, with NECR's tracks directly serving the port. The port's operator leased four acres from the railroad for cargo storage. On November 9, 2010, the railroad began construction on a project to raise speeds on trackage within Vermont to , with speeds on the route south of White River Junction being increased to for passenger service. The upgrades were part of a project to decrease running times for Amtrak's Vermonter, which operates over the route. Construction was funded by a $70 million grant from the federal government, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The NECR main line was heavily damaged in several locations by Hurricane Irene during August 2011. A six mile segment in Vermont was taken out of service entirely by storm damage, with downed trees and flooding affecting other segments as well. Rail service returned to all customers by September 13, with full repairs completed later in the month.

The 45 railroads formerly owned by RailAmerica, which had previously taken over RailTex lines, were transferred to Connecticut based shortline holding company Genesee & Wyoming in December 2012. This change of ownership caused a shuffle of locomotives around their rail system, and the original NECR yellow and blue paint scheme is slowly being replaced by the Genesee & Wyoming scheme.

New England Central's main line connects the Long Island Sound port of New London, Connecticut, to the Canadian border in East Alburgh, Vermont. The company's line connects St. Albans, Essex Junction, Montpelier, White River Junction, and Brattleboro within Vermont. Branches connect Essex Junction to Burlington and White River Junction to Lebanon, New Hampshire, and a third branch exists in Claremont, New Hampshire (formerly the Claremont Concord Railroad). Within Massachusetts, the NECR mainline passes through Millers Falls and the important junction at Palmer. In Connecticut, the line serves Stafford Springs, Willimantic, and Norwich before terminating at the Port of New London. although COFC (container on flat car) and TOFC (trailer on flat car) business is also operated from the Canada–US border to Boston, in partnership with the Providence and Worcester Railroad. The NECR hauled around 37,000 carloads in 2008. Palmer, Massachusetts, serves as the main yard and office for operations south of the Vermont line. With state and federal funding, Amtrak and the New England Central Railroad completed repairs and upgrades to much of the NECR mainline in Vermont in 2012, allowing the Vermonter to reach a maximum speed of The Central Corridor Rail Line is a proposed passenger train service between New London and Brattleboro via the NECR main line.