(The Associated Press circulated the following on January 7, 2010.)
ROSEBURG, Ore. — A California-based rail group has asked the federal Surface Transportation Board to defer making a ruling on a petition to have West Texas and Lubbock Railway operate the 218-mile Siskiyou Summit line between Dillard, Ore., and Black Butte, Calif.
The Siskiyou Regional Railroad Authority, a public body formed last fall by the California cities of Weed and Montague, has signed a memo of understanding with Union Pacific Railroad to buy an 80-mile section of line. Siskiyou Regional Railroad would then hire a short line operator to run the railroad.
Siskiyou Regional president John Hammond says the arrangement would benefit shippers and allow the authority to eventually develop passenger service and excursion trains.
Roseburg Forest Products and other shippers petitioned more than a year ago to have West Texas and Lubbock Railway take over the Siskiyou Summit line.
The request came after the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad-which leases the line from Union Pacific-curtailed service. The reduced service forced shippers along the line to switch from rail transportation to more expensive trucking.
Three members of Oregon’s congressional delegation recently asked the Surface Transportation Board to make a quick decision on the petition.
The Siskiyou group’s letter to the board blindsided Roseburg Forest Products and other members of the Coos-Siskiyou Shippers Coalition, said Bob Ragon, coalition spokesman.
“It’s got everyone confused,” Ragon told the News-Review of Roseburg. “It will drag out the process, not speed it up.”
Hammond disagreed, saying his group could have rail service restored as early as this quarter.
“We want these businesses to succeed and to provide them with competitive rates,” Hammond said. “Our efforts will actually speed up the process.”