Rail Freight Carriers in

New York

A freight train on the approach to the Hell Gate bridge over the East River.

Long Haul Railways

CN, Conrail, CPKC, CSX, Norfolk Southern

International Railways

• CN enters the US from Canada by a bridge over the gorge of the Niagara River near Niagara Falls, interchanging with CSX at Niagara Yard
• CN, CPKC and CSX enter Canada by a bridge over the Niagara River between Buffalo and Fort Erie, Ontario
• CSX enters Canada near Fort Covington
• CPKC enters Canada near Rouses Point. A CN line runs from a junction with CPKC at Rouses Point into Canada

Regional & Local Railways

• Albany Port Railroad switching railway in the Port of Albany jointly owned by, and interchanging with, CPKC and CSX. Total length of line about 20 miles (32 km) (Website contains little information relating to railway)
• Arcade & Attica Railroad Arcade Junction (interchange with Norfolk Southern) via Attica to North Java; total length of line about 15 miles (24 km) (Website contains few details of freight operations)
• B & H Rail Corporation Painted Post (interchange with Norfolk Southern) via Bath (branch to Hammondsport) to Wayland; total length of line about 47 miles (75 km)
• Batten Kill Railroad Eagle Bridge (interchange with Berkshire & Eastern) via Greenwich Junction (branch to Greenwich) to Salem; total length of line about 30 miles (48 km) (No website located at present)
• Berkshire & Eastern Railroad Rotterdam Junction (interchange with CSX) via Mechanicville (interchange with CPKC and branch to Schenectady, where there is interchange with Norfolk Southern), Eagle Bridge (interchange with Batten Kill) and Hoosick (interchange with Vermont Railway) to destinations in CT, MA, NH and VT; total length of line about 414 miles (666 km)
• Brookhaven Rail switching services in the Brookhaven Rail Terminal, Yaphank, interchanging with New York & Atlantic; total length of line currently about 2½ miles (4 km), planned extensions to a total of about 7 miles (11 km)
• Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad Buffalo (interchange with most other railways in the area, and branch to Orchard Park) via Machias (interchange with Western New York & Pennsylvania), Ashford (branch to West Valley), East Salamanca (interchange with Western New York & Pennsylvania) and Bradford PA to destinations in PA. Total length of line about 728 miles (1171 km)
• Buffalo Southern Railroad Buffalo (interchange with most other railways in the area) to Gowanda (interchange with New York & Lake Erie), about 32 miles (51 km)
• Central New York Railroad Binghamton (interchange with CPKC, Norfolk Southern and New York Susquehanna & Western) to Port Jervis (interchange with Norfolk Southern and New York Susquehanna & Western), about 123 miles (198 km). The line crosses the NY / PA border several times.
• Clarendon & Pittsford Railroad Whitehall (interchange with CPKC) to Center Rutland VT (interchange with Vermont Railway), about 24 miles (39 km). There is a separate section near Florence VT
• Genesee Valley Transportation Western New York Region several lines:
  • Bison Yard near Buffalo (interchange with CPKC and Norfolk Southern) to Lancaster, about 3 miles (5 km)
  • Lockport (interchange with CSX) to Brockport, about 41 miles (67 km)
  • switching railway in Batavia, interchanging with CSX. Total length of line about 5 miles (8 km)
• Finger Lakes Railway two separate lines:
  • Syracuse (interchange with CSX and New York Susquehanna & Western) via Geneva (interchange with Norfolk Southern and branch to Kendala, where there is interchange with US Army) and East Shortsville (branch to West Victor) to Canandaigua
  • Watkins Glen via Himrod Junction (interchange with Norfolk Southern) to Penn Yan
  Lines are connected by trackage rights over Norfolk Southern from Geneva to Himrod Junction. Total length of line about 167 miles (269 km)
• Global Container Terminals New York at Howland Hook, Staten Island has its own switching railway interchanging with Conrail (Website contains no information relating to railway)
• Ithaca Central Railroad Sayre PA (interchange with Norfolk Southern) via Waverly (interchange with Norfolk Southern) to Ludlowville, about 49 miles (79 km)
• Livonia, Avon & Lakefield Railroad Maplewood Junction, near Rochester (interchange with Rochester & Southern and haulage rights over Rochester & Southern to Silver Springs) via Genesee Junction (interchange with CSX) and Mortimer (branch to Henrietta) to Lakeville; total length of line about 29 miles (46 km)
• Massena Terminal Railroad switching railway in Massena, interchanging with CN and CSX; total length of line about 4 miles (6 km)
• Middletown & New Jersey Railroad three separate lines:
  • Four Story Junction (near Middletown, interchange with Norfolk Southern) to Slate Hill
  • Campbell Hall (interchange with Norfolk Southern and branch to Montgomery) to Walden
  • Hudson Junction - Campbell Hall (interchange with Norfolk Southern) via Girarde, Hudson Junction - Greycourt (branch to Greycourt) and Warwick to Pelton Road (interchange with New York, Susquehanna & Western)
  The lines are linked by trackage rights over Norfolk Southern between Campbell Hall, Hudson Junction - Campbell Hall, Four Story Junction and Port Jervis. Total length of line about 55 miles (88 km).
• Mohawk, Adirondack & Northern Railroad several lines:
  • Utica (interchange with CSX and New York Susquehanna & Western) to Lyons Falls, about 45 miles (72 km)
  • switching services in Rome, interchanging with CSX and trackage rights over CSX from Utica
  • Carthage (interchange with CN) to Newton Falls, about 45 miles (73 km). Currently out of use
• New York & Atlantic Railway freight services on the tracks of Long Island Railway, interchanging with Brookhaven Rail, CPKC, CSX, New York New Jersey Rail, Norfolk Southern, Providence & Worcester, and Townline Rail Terminal. Total trackage operated about 269 miles (433 km)
• New York & Lake Erie Railroad Gowanda (interchange Buffalo Southern and haulage rights over Boffalo Southern from Buffalo) via Dayton (branch to Cattaraugus) to Waterboro (interchange with Western New York & Pennsylvania). Total length of line about 35 miles (56 km)
• New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway Newark NJ via New Milford to Pelton Road; trackage rights over Middletown & New Jersey from Pelton Road to Hudson Junction - Campbell Hall, over Norfolk Southern from Hudson Junction - Campbell Hall to Port Jervis and over Central New York from Port Jervis to Binghamton, briefly entering PA several times between Port Jervis and Binghamton; own line from Binghamton (interchange with CPKC and Norfolk Southern) via Chenango Forks (branch to Utica, where there is a local branch to Yorkville and interchange with CSX and Mohawk, Adirondack & Northern) and Cortland (local branches) to Syracuse (interchange with CSX and Finger Lakes). Total length of line over 400 miles (640 km)
• New York & Ogdensburg Railroad two lines from Norwood (interchange with CSX):
  • to Norfolk
  • to Ogdensburg
  Total length of line about 30 miles (48 km)
• Ontario Midland Railroad Newark via North Newark (interchange with CSX) and Sodus (branch to Wolcott) to Webster. Total length of line about 46 miles (75 km)
• Providence & Worcester Railroad Fresh Pond (interchange with New York & Atlantic) by overhead rights on Amtrak via New Rochelle to destinations in CT, MA and RI. Total length of line about 612 miles (985 km)
• R J Corman Owego & Harford Line Owego (interchange with Norfolk Southern) to North Harford, about 27 miles (43 km)
• Rochester & Southern Railroad Barnard (interchange with CSX and Rochester Switching) via Brooks Avenue (branch to Rochester where there is interchange with CSX), Maplewood (interchange with CSX and Livonia Avon & Lakefield), and Caledonia (branch to Mount Morris, with a section from Mount Morris to Dansville currently out of service) to Silver Springs (interchange with Norfolk Southern and trackage rights over Norfolk Southern to Buffalo); total length of line about 110 miles (177 km)
• Rochester Switching Services switching railway in Eastman Business Park, Rochester, interchanging with CSX and Rochester & Southern; total length of line about 16 miles (25 km)
• Saratoga & North Creek Railway Saratoga Springs (interchange with CPKC) to Tahawus, about 87 miles (140 km). Currently inactive, purchased in 2022 by Revolution Rail with the intent of reopening
• SMS Lines switching services in Northeast Indutrial Park, Guilderland, interchanging with CSX and Norfolk Southern. SMS also has operations in NJ and PA
• Townline Rail Terminal proposed switching railway serving the Carlson Corp transload facility in Smithtown, interchanging with New York & Atlantic. Total length of line about 1 miles (1.6 km) (No website located at present)
• Vermont Railway located mainly in VT, enters NY near White Creek and continues to Hoosick Junction (interchange with Berkshire & Eastern)
• Wellsboro & Corning Railroad Corning (interchange with Norfolk Southern) via Lawrenceville PA to Wellsboro PA, about 42 miles (68 km)
• Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad Hornell (interchange with Norfolk Southern) via Olean (branches to Machias, where there is interchange with Buffalo & Pittsburgh, and via Portville to destinations in PA), Salamanca (interchange with Buffalo & Pittsburgh), Waterboro (interchange with New York & Lake Erie) and Niobe to Rouseville PA. Total length of line about 325 miles (523 km)

Train Ferry

• New York New Jersey Rail provides one of the few remaining train ferry operations in the country, and the only one in the Northeast, carrying rail freight vehicles from Port Jersey to New York and thereby cutting as much as five days (yes, that’s days) off the overland journey time. A short main line from the Bush Terminal yard in Brooklyn connects with New York & Atlantic Railway at Bayridge Junction. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey are examining various proposals for improving the Cross-Harbor link, including a possible rail tunnel.

Military Railways

Websites do not in general contain details of railway facilities

• US Army serving Fort Drum from Roots (junction with CSX)