DeFazio adds money to help reopen coast rail line
"Shifting to direct truck or truck/rail increases costs to shippers by an average of 11 percent, which pales to the massive losses CORP would incur to rehabilitate the tunnels and resume operations on the line," wrote Terence Hynes, the company's attorney.
The Associated Press
7/22/2008
PORTLAND, Ore. — Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., has proposed rerouting $8 million to help the Port of Coos Bay buy a rail line that runs from Eugene to Coquille and is scheduled to be abandoned.
Without the line, some coastal businesses have resorted to trucks for shipping, and that's driving up costs.
The $8 million is federal money approved by Congress three years ago to repair a bridge on the line. But before the work could be done, the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad announced it would abandon the line.
"It doesn't make sense to continue to repair a bridge on a line that is being abandoned, so I made the decision to change the purpose of that $8 million to help the Port acquire and rehabilitate the line," DeFazio said.
Whether that happens is also up to the federal Surface Transportation Board, which is considering two conflicting applications filed this month.
The Port asks the government to force the railroad and its Florida-based owner, RailAmerica, to sell the line for $9.8 million. The other application is from the railroad company, which seeks to abandon the line, rip up the railroad, sell the track as scrap metal or reuse it in other operations, and then sell the real estate to the highest bidder.
The company, which abruptly closed the line for safety reasons last year, claims in its application that abandoning a portion of the line is the proper decision, given that traffic on the line has declined 37 percent since 2003.
The company also says the harm to shippers is limited, given that there's plenty of competition to rail service from trucking companies.
"Shifting to direct truck or truck/rail increases costs to shippers by an average of 11 percent, which pales to the massive losses CORP would incur to rehabilitate the tunnels and resume operations on the line," wrote Terence Hynes, the company's attorney.
DeFazio's maneuver is part of a transportation bill being considered by the Senate. If the Senate approves it, DeFazio said the House would follow quickly so it could be sent to President Bush for his signature.