Indiana Business Journal,8/22/18:
State lawmakers inquire about plans for Nickel Plate Railroad
Opponents of the Nickel Plate Railroad corridor being converted into a recreational trail have asked state lawmakers for help preventing the train tracks from being removed.
Sen. Mike Crider, R-Greenfield, and Rep. Cindy Kirchhofer, R-Beech Grove, sent letters this week to the Indianapolis City-County Council encouraging councilors to investigate whether Indianapolis owns any portion of the Nickel Plate Railroad and should have had representation on the Hoosier Heritage Port Authority, the quasi-government group that has long managed the rail line.
Fishers, Noblesville and Hamilton County, which control the track that runs for 37.5 miles from Tipton to Indianapolis, agreed last year to convert the portions of railroad that run through their communities into a trail. Fishers has already chosen firms to lead the planning phase.
But members of not-for-profit Save the Nickel Plate, which was founded following the February 2017 announcement of the plan, haven’t given up a battle to prevent the tracks from being removed. Save the Nickel Plate has argued if the trail is going to be built, it should be constructed adjacent to the tracks, not replace them.