WOONSOCKET – Rail lines running through Woonsocket that for more than a century have been operated by Massachusetts-based Providence & Worcester Railroad Co. will soon have a new owner, and thanks to a federal approval obtained this week should also soon have a new purpose: carrying commuters between Worcester and Providence.

Genesee & Wyoming has announced the purchase of P&W for $126 million as a means for the Connecticut-based freight hauler to expand its lines through the northeast. While the acquisition must still pass two levels of federal regulatory review, from the Security Exchange Commission and the railway governing Surface Transportation Board, the sale is on course to end a long-standing arrangement for area tracks.

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