Sooner Subdivision Freight Line, Sapulpa and Midwest City, Oklahoma

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In 2014, the Oklahoma State Transportation Board voted to sell the Sooner Subdivision line between Sapulpa and the Midwest City suburb. Stillwater Central Railroad (SLWC), the company that had been leasing the nearly 100 miles of rail line, placed a winning bid of $75 million. The bid also included financial commitments for enhanced rail access to energy infrastructure in Cushing, track improvements from a Class 2 to a Class 3 track within seven years, and developing a six-month trial run of passenger rail services within five years. SLWC, owned by Watco Companies, LLC, announced plans to work with Iowa Pacific Holdings to operate the passenger line. In total, SLWC operates more than 275 miles of track in Oklahoma. As of 2014, Oklahoma had attempted to preserve 882 miles of state rail corridors facing abandonment by purchasing them. With the sale of the Sooner Subdivision line, 749 miles of state-owned rail lines have been returned to the private sector. In August 2014, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation has completed the $75 million sale of nearly 100 miles of railroad track to Stillwater Central Railroad LLC. ODOT and railroad officials signed the sale agreement Monday afternoon in Oklahoma City. Plans for the rail line include passenger service and hauling of freight, including crude oil. The $75 million the state receives from the sale will go into the Railroad Maintenance Revolving Fund where it will be used for such things as maintaining and improving state-owned railroad lines and railroad crossings, said Mike Patterson, executive director of the Oklahoma Transportation Department. Some of the money also could be used to purchase other railroad lines if private companies go bankrupt or decide to abandon lines, he said.

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