STARKVILLE — A rail line that has sat dormant for more than two decades is once again in the city’s sights, this time in the hopes of creating a recreational trail district from West Point to Ackerman.
The board of aldermen passed an agreement on its consent agenda Tuesday night, authorizing Texas-based Innovative Rail Partners LLC to negotiate the purchase of the roughly 38.1 mile rail corridor between the cities, which bisects Starkville from southwest to northeast from its current owners. The rail is currently owned by Canadian railway holding company CPKC.
“This is the first time we’ve had what appears to be a real window opening for us to be able to perhaps make this happen,” Mayor Lynn Spruill told The Dispatch on Tuesday morning. “So you want to exercise every chance you get to move forward with something that could be hugely beneficial.”
Currently, Spruill said, the rail lines that cut through the city are “an unused and dilapidated significant liability,” which “the railroad does not use” and “has not actively used in probably 20 years.” By purchasing or otherwise acquiring the rail line, Spruill said, the liability could be removed while establishing a new recreational trail between the cities and running through Starkville.
“It would benefit Starkville in my opinion just because the very concept of that is more in line with a college town that is trying to provide quality of life that includes things like alternative transportation and … recreational opportunities,” Spruill said. “I think this fits perfectly with that.”
Spruill said that though the city has a particular interest in the lines running within its limits, creating a larger trail district running through multiple cities, similar to the Tanglefoot Trail in northeastern Mississippi that runs from New Albany to Houston, could lead to a greater economic impact as well as recreational collaboration.
Spruill said she has already received verbal support for the project from the mayors of West Point and Sturgis, along with the Oktibbeha County board of supervisors.
During the board’s Friday work session, Spruill said she has been in conversations about the track since 2005, when she was chief administrative officer for the city. However, the owners of the track at that time, Kansas City Southern, “would never give us the time of day on what to do with the trail,” she said.
But Kansas City Southern merged with Canadian Pacific in 2021, forming CPKC. Since that merger, Spruill said, a “window” has opened for the city to reenter conversations about using the rail line as the new company evaluates its existing assets.
“There seems to be a fairly quick turn desire for CPKC, and I don’t want that window to close on us because that window has been closed for so long that to even have a crack in it, I want to make sure we’re there and saying that it’s something we’re interested in doing,” Spruill told the board on Friday.
That window was further opened by Innovative Rail Partners LLC, Spruill said, who had formed prior connections with the rail company. By approving the agreement Tuesday night, IRP will be authorized to continue those conversations, negotiating a rail corridor purchase with CPKC.
“We’re actually in conversation with the owner of the rail line,” Spruill said. “Before this, Kansas City Southern would never contact me back in an affirmative way that they were interested in any kind of possible reuse or different use for that rail line, even though they weren’t using it.”
IRP Partner Montey Sneed has more than 53 years of experience in the railroad industry, including 16 years working with The Rails to Trails Conservancy, a national nonprofit that regularly converts out-of-use rail lines to trails, before splitting off on his own.
While Sneed and his business partner Kurt Gaylor had both formerly retired from the railroad industry and connected entities, the pair decided to reenter the field just a few years ago. In the past, Sneed said, he has helped establish 47 trails across the country – some through outright purchase of the land and some through donations or other agreements.
Sneed said his industry experience and knowledge makes connecting with the right people in railroad companies easier. Steed said after visiting Starkville’s rail last year, he connected with a representative of CPKC. Steed hopes to “start talking numbers” next month, ironing out exactly how the acquisition might work, though he didn’t share an exact cost estimate.
“I think the railroad wants to do the deal,” Sneed said. “They flat said that.”
CPKC Media Relations Manager Terry Cunha wrote in a Tuesday email that the company “is always willing to engage the city about railroad related issues and property matters,” though he declined to comment on the specific property.
The city does not have to commit any funding toward its agreement with IRP, Ward 2 Alderwoman and budget chair Sandra Sistrunk said during the Friday meeting. But the agreement, which also includes other project manager and stakeholder coordination responsibilities, leaves room for compensation to be determined in the future by both parties.
But Sneed said he works out of passion, at this point, rather than looking to make a specific amount of money. He said any future payment structure for his consulting work is “kind of up to the city.”
“I enjoy doing it,” Sneed said. “I like the art of the deal. And it’s fun. It really is. And I get to go see the railroads and high rail them, and I get to see stuff that people don’t see.”
Sistrunk said on Friday that the “real lift” money-wise will come once the city starts working to convert the line to a “finished product.” However, she said she does not believe Starkville will be alone in the trail’s creation.
“I think there’s a lot of community support and regional support for this idea, so I think this isn’t something we’re doing in a vacuum,” Sistrunk said.
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