Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad

The Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad is a Class III American regional railroad that is a subsidiary of Watco operating in eastern Illinois and western Indiana.

In January 2018, CSX Transportation announced that it was seeking offers to buy the Decatur Subdivision and the Danville Secondary Subdivision as part of a system-wide sale of low-traffic routes, and in July, Watco, via the DREI, was identified as the winning bidder. Following regulatory approval from the Surface Transportation Board, the DREI began operations on September 9. Commodities on this route are primarily chemicals, plastics, soybeans, and corn.

The DREI operates three intersecting routes totaling 182 mi&mdash;the former Decatur Subdivision between Montezuma, Indiana, and Decatur, Illinois, the former Danville Subdivision between Terre Haute, Indiana, and Olivet, Illinois, and the former Eastern Illinois Railroad trackage from North Metcalf, Illinois, to Neoga, Illinois. It interchanges traffic with CSX, the Norfolk Southern Railway, the Canadian National Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad. The railroad is headquartered in Decatur, Illinois.