The Providence and Worcester Railroad Company is a short-line freight railroad operating in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York. The Company interchanges freight traffic with CSXT at Worcester, MA and at New Haven, CT; with Pan Am Railways at Worcester, MA; with Pan Am Southern and Norfolk Southern Corporation at Gardner, MA; with the New England Central Railroad and Canadian Pacific Railway at Willimantic, CT; with the New York and Atlantic Railroad at Fresh Pond Junction (Queens), NY; with the Connecticut Southern Railroad at Hartford, CT; and with Canadian National Railway through a cooperative operating arrangement with the New England Central Railroad over the “Great Eastern Route” at East Alburg, VT. It operates four classification yards in Worcester, MA, Cumberland, RI, and Plainfield and New Haven, CT. The Worcester, MA and Plainfield, CT locations also house equipment maintenance facilities.
The Company transports a wide variety of commodities for its approximately 140 customers, including automobiles, construction aggregates, iron and steel products, chemicals, lumber, scrap metals, plastic resins, cement, coal, ethanol, construction and demolition debris, processed foods and edible foodstuffs, such as frozen foods and corn syrup. In 2012, the Company transported 31,725 carloads of freight.
By agreement with a private operator, the Company also serves an approved customs-bonded intermodal yard in Worcester, primarily for the movement of container traffic from the Far East destined for points in New England. Several major container ship lines utilize double-stack train service through this terminal. The Company works closely with the terminal operator to develop and maintain strong relationships with steamship lines involved in international intermodal transportation. In 2012, the Company handled 16,113 intermodal containers.
The Company also generates income through sales of properties, grants of easements and licenses, and leases of land and tracks..
