News Update: From KQEN Radio in Roseburg, Oregon 5-26-08 It’s been two weeks since Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad and their parent company RailAmerica filed their response to the Surface Transportation Board’s show cause order about the Coos Bay rail line. The STB gave CORP until May 12th to answer the show cause order why the closure of the Coos Bay line should not be considered an illegal abandonment. Since then RaiAmerica and Corp have responded to the STB with their take on the shutdown and even placed the portion from Noti to Coquille in consideration for legal abandonment within three years. Also the stake holders along the line including the Coos -Siskiyou Coalition have asked the STB for an extension in the short ten day response window to respond to CORP’s filing. The original date for that response was May 22nd . The STB granted their request for the extension to June 3rd. It is expected that the shippers along the Coos Bay Rail Line will object to CORP’s response and new legal abandonment proposal. If the STB rules against CORP & RailAmerica on the illegal abandonment issue, a temporary operator of the line could then be ordered by the STB to get the line going again. One of the largest hurdles to be addressed by any temporary operator that is appointed would be the tunnel repairs that are needed and how quick the line could be then re-opened. Until the STB makes it decision on how they will handle the Coos Bay Rail Line, everyone including the coastal shippers are on pins and needles waiting.
Shippers & CORP Response This story aired on KQEN Radio, Roseburg, OR 6-4-08 An attorney representing shippers on the Coos Bay Rail Line tells the Surface Transportation Board safety issues do not appear to be the driving force behind the embargo of the line. In a 19 page document provided to the STB yesterday, shippers’ attorney Ron Yokim explains that Rail America and CORP shut down the line between Eugene and Coquille last year simply due to economics. And that is not legal under the rail line’s common carrier obligation. Citing reports dating back as far as 1994, Yokim lays out the case that CORP knew it had dangerous tunnels for years before the embargo, yet gave just one day of notice before closing the line on September 21, 2007. Rail America attorneys told the STB as soon as they purchased CORP, they started a review of the line. Officials shut the line down as soon as their review showed that tunnels on the line were in danger of collapsing. But Yokim’s report says Rail America was aware of the need for immediate repair well before the embargo and took no action to initiate repairs before or after the embargo. The same company that reviewed the status of the tunnels on the line offered to prepare design, plans and specification documents for repairing the line if Rail America were to request them. Yokim says they did not. He says if Rail America were planning on repairing the lines, they would have first requested the planning work be done, and then begin repairs. Rail America Vice President Paul Lundberg cited the wet spring of 2008 as delaying the repair work, making re-opening the line impossible until at least this November. Yokim says “It is abundantly clear that Rail America elected not to initiate repairs during periods when it was possible to undertake tunnel repairs – an election which was based solely on economic concerns rather than any physical limitation that was outside the control of CORP.” Yokim says this is a clear violation of the common carrier obligation of the line and points out that shippers have been damaged by the decision. Roseburg Forest Products is dealing with over 200,000 dollars per month increased transportation costs; American Bridge is unable to process bridge repairs they were designed to make. Yokim suggests the STB declare the embargo illegal and set a date for CORP to reopen the line.
This same comment has been noted previously. Nobody seems to have caught it. The acquisition, and then review sequence is reversed. Seems like a big error was made there, by the purchaser. Boxcab E50
how much? What did RailAmerica pay for the coos bay branch? How much do they expect to get from scrappin out the rail? As the cost of fuel increases the intact line will gain in value so maybe the state should just pay them off and take it over as an investment in the future of the oregon coastal area?
Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad and RailAmerica officially filed with the Surface Transportation Board in Washington, D.C. with a "Notice of Intent to Abandon and Discontinue Service" on the Coos Bay rail line. The filing came in near the close of business yesterday to notify the STB that the formal application for abandonment and discontinuance of service would be filed within the next 30 days. The coastal rail line has be closed by an railroad imposed embargo for the past nine months after it was decided that the tunnels along the route were deemed unsafe and subject to possible collapse. In a related story the International Port of Coos Bay has taken another step toward acquiring the Coos Bay Rail line. Late last week the Port’s Board of Commissioner’s authorized Executive Director Jeffery Bishop to sign a letter of credit for 12.5 million dollars. The action was required by the STB to demonstrate the Port’s ability to own and operate the rail line. The board also authorized Bishop to file a "Feeder Line Application" with the STB. The application may force the sale of the rail line to the "International Port of Coos Bay" with the STB setting the purchase price.
