Florida Northern Railroad Company to file for discontinuance

The Florida Northern Railroad Company, which owns and operates 14 miles of railroad lines that run through downtown High Springs, Fla., wrote a letter earlier this year to Prime Conduit, a pipe plant in High Springs and a major user of the railroad tracks, explaining that it was going to close down the tracks due to lack of use and needed repairs. Prime Conduit would lose its primary mode of shipping without the tracks. High Springs decided to apply for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) II grant. City officials believed this was the resolution to keeping the tracks open. Because the city did not receive the grant, the Florida Northern Railroad Company will file for a discontinuance of service in the near future, according to Pete Petree, vice president and general manager of the railroad company. "This was just the only viable option we saw," Petree said. Discontinuance is not a permanent decision. Petree said if someone was willing to fund rehabilitation, or if a major customer lent investment back into the line, the company would consider keeping the tracks open. Prime Conduit says they will seek other modes of transportation and will not be closing.