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The Surface Transportation Board (STB) should reject RailAmerica Inc.'s application to abandon the Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad Inc.'s (CORP) Coos Bay Line and accept the Port of Coos Bay's proposal to purchase the line to "prevent economic hardship" for Coos Bay and surrounding communities.

That's the message Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski delivered to board members at a STB hearing held yesterday in Eugene, Ore., to review RailAmerica's and the port's proposals.
 
"The sudden shutdown of the Coos Bay line ... has created great uncertainty for companies in this region," said Kulongoski in a prepared statement. "This uncertainty cannot continue - and the answer is that rail service must be restored. To do anything less is unfair and unjust for the citizens in this community who rely on this railroad to provide for themselves and their families."

CORP plans to abandon a 94.3-mile portion of the line between Vaughn and Cordes, and discontinue service on segments it leases from Union Pacific Railroad and Longview, Portland & Northern Railway Co. CORP closed the line in September 2007 because officials determined three tunnels posed a safety risk to operations and were too costly to repair, and the line's traffic had declined significantly.
 
RailAmerica requested $18 million from the state and local communities to repair the railroad, along with $16 million in future funding to help offset operating costs and continue capital improvements, said Kulongoski. State officials offered to help develop a long-term solution if RailAmerica would repair the tunnels and get traffic moving, but RailAmerica officials rejected the offer, he said.

In May, RailAmerica officials stated in a STB filing that they had "little choice but to abandon the line" because the state, shippers and UP rejected their proposed options to restore the route. For example, CORP officials had proposed establishing a railroad/state joint venture that would own, reopen and operate the line, but Kulongoski rejected the idea.

Because CORP plans to abandon the line, the port submitted a proposal to the STB seeking to purchase the line and keep it open.
 
"After many attempts by the state to be a partner, it is my opinion that the only option for the board at this time is to adopt the Port of Coos Bay feeder line application," said Kulongoski said. "At some point, providing infrastructure for rural America cannot be just a bottom-line accounting decision. Otherwise, small economic regions like the southern Oregon coast will become more isolated and economically unstable."