Joe Mallory, president of the Cincinnati chapter of the NAACP, told CityBeat the organization’s stance on Issue 22 is still an unwavering “No.” Photo: Aidan Mahoney

Cincinnati voters are deciding on Issue 22, the proposed sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway (CSR) to Norfolk Southern.

A majority Yes vote on Issue 22 would mean the city would receive a $1.6 billion trust fund to pay for existing infrastructure needs. A majority No vote on Issue 22 would mean Norfolk Southern remains on the CSR tracks for $25 million a year for at least another 25 years, then an independent arbitrator will determine a new lease amount.

The latest results

As of 10:47 p.m., CityBeat is projecting Cincinnati’s Issue 22 will pass.

Numbers last updated at 9:50 p.m.:

With 31.58% of precincts reporting, YES on Issue 22 is ahead with 54.23% of the vote, or 24,248 votes. NO on Issue 22 is at 45.77% with 20,464 votes.

Numbers last updated at 9:30 p.m.:

With 20% of precincts reporting, YES on Issue 22 is ahead with 54.20% of the vote, or 20,204 votes. NO on Issue 22 is at 45.80% with 17,076 votes.

Numbers last updated at 9 p.m.:

With 2.63% of precincts reporting, YES on Issue 22 is ahead with 55% of the vote, or 13,590 votes. NO on Issue 22 is at 45% with 11,119 votes.

Numbers last updated at 8:08 p.m.:

A half hour after polls closed, Issue 22 is out of the gate with YES leading at 13,047 votes and NO on Issue 22 trailing at 10,658 votes.

What is Issue 22?

The CSR is a single rail line that starts in Cincinnati and ends in Chattanooga that the city leases to Norfolk Southern for $25 million a year. The 336-mile commercial freight railway is the only city-owned multi-state railway in the country. The first lease agreement with Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (CNO&TP) was signed in 1881 and has been renewed on a 25-year cycle ever since (CNO&TP is now a subsidiary of Norfolk Southern). As the latest lease agreement turns 25, city leaders want Cincinnati voters to sell their railroad rather than renew its lease.

A five-person CSR board of trustees, which is appointed by the sitting mayor and approved by council, began lease and sale negotiations with Norfolk Southern in 2020. According to the board’s website, the highest possible lease Norfolk Southern was willing to pay during negotiations was $37.3 million in April 2022; the city was asking for $65 million. The two parties ended up agreeing on a sale price of $1.6 billion, which the board would oversee in the form of a trust. The city intends to invest that lump sum, living off the interest while vowing to never touch the principal. Financial advisors to the board estimate it would see an annual return on the investment ranging from $50 million to $70 million, almost three times what the city earns from leasing the railroad to Norfolk Southern now.

Save Our Rail, an anti-Issue 22 political action committee, believes the railroad has been undervalued. Instead of a sale, organizers want to see a higher lease amount while borrowing against the CSR’s value to free up funds for the city’s immediate infrastructure needs.

Legally, earnings from the sale could only be spent on maintaining existing city facilities like roads, rec centers and fire stations, which city leaders say is crucial given the city’s $300 million deficit. Some Issue 22 opponents, like the Cincinnati NAACP, worry the funds won’t be equitably distributed. But finances are a secondary concern to many voters who see retaining the railroad as critical to local safety. The proposed sale comes at a time of heightened public awareness of the sins of its buyer, Norfolk Southern. A train belonging to the rail behemoth derailed in East Palestine, a small Eastern Ohio village near the Pennsylvania border, on Feb. 3. The crash ignited a chain of events that ended in a controlled burn of the train’s toxic load of chemicals, including butyl acrylate, vinyl chloride, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether and ethylhexyl acrylate. The colorless vinyl chloride has been associated with an increased risk of liver cancer and other cancers, according to the federal government’s National Cancer Institute. More than half of the small town is reportedly afraid to drink its own tap water to this day.


If Cincinnati votes down the sale, Norfolk Southern will still be on the CSR tracks for at least another 25 years. After that, Mayor Aftab Pureval told CityBeat it will be up to an independent arbitrator, not the city or Norfolk Southern, to decide how much the line is worth.


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This article appears in Nov 1-14, 2023.