(The Associated Press circulated the following on January 29.)
SALEM, Ore. — Gov. Ted Kulongoski has told railroad officials that Oregon will consider helping with repair costs to the 120-mile rail line between Coquille and Eugene, but only after the repairs have been made.
Late last week, he told officials of RailAmerica, the parent company of the Roseburg-based Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, that the line is critical to companies in coastal Douglas and Coos counties.
The company abruptly closed the Coos Bay line in September citing safety problems in three tunnels. But unless the line is reopened, the state says it won’t even discuss helping with repair costs. The railroad has estimated repairs could total $23 million and take about six months.
“The governor needs that as a gesture of good faith,” Kulongoski spokeswoman Patty Wentz said.
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, who attended the meeting at the governor’s office in Salem, said Kulongoski remained firm. “The governor was fabulous,” DeFazio said. “He wants that line reopened.”
The company said the tunnels need immediate attention. Officials from Boca Raton, Fla.-based RailAmerica have asked for a group of public and private entities to foot most of the bill, while offering to put up $4.66 million of its own money.
“They were trying to convince us that their plan was credible,” DeFazio said. “Their proposal was routinely criticized and dismissed.”
DeFazio also took RailAmerica to task, saying it is more interested in profits than in maintaining infrastructure.
Paul Lundberg, RailAmerica’s vice president of operations, told the governor he would take the state proposal back to the company for discussion and provide an answer in a week.
Allyn Ford of Roseburg Forest Products attended the meeting, along with other shippers affected by the closure. Union Pacific Railroad had representatives there, too, as did Genesse & Wyoming, a Greenwich, Conn.-based short line rail operator.
DeFazio invited Genesse & Wyoming in case the state or Oregon International Port of Coos Bay tries to obtain the spur line and might need an operator to run it. The port already is working to submit a feeder application to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to force the railroad to fix or sell.