In July 2012, CSX Transportation finalized their donation of the High Line rail yards to New York City. The news marks an important point in the history of the High Line. This elevated railway viaduct, originally built in 1934 to carry freight trains, is now entirely owned by the City of New York and poised to be fully transformed into a one-of-a-kind public space.

The High Line’s final stretch wraps around the West Side Rail Yards, an active site used by the Long Island Rail Road, bounded by West 30th and West 34th Streets to the south and north, and 10th and 12th Avenues to the east and west. CSX has donated this section to the City of New York, just as it did for the elevated rail structure south of West 30th Street.

This donation marks the latest step in a long history of CSX’s visionary support for the transformation of the High Line into a public park. In 1999, the company commissioned the Regional Plan Association to study re-purposing the High Line, including the possibility of enrolling the viaduct in the Federal “Rails to Trails” program, which would later become the legal framework for transforming the High Line into public open space. In 2005, CSX and the City of New York entered into a Trail Use Agreement for the High Line, and CSX donated the High Line south of West 30th Street to the City. Taken together, these actions effectively preserved the High Line and led the way for it to open as a public park in 2009.

About CSX

CSX Corporation, based in Jacksonville, Fla., is one of the nation’s leading transportation companies, providing rail, intermodal and rail-to-truck transload services. CSX’s network spans approximately 21,000 miles, with service to 23 eastern states, the District of Columbia and two Canadian provinces. CSX’s network connects more than 240 short line railroads and more than 70 ocean, river, and lake ports. More information about CSX Corporation and its subsidiaries is available at csx.com.