Rail access is key to Aroostook’s future

(Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, wrote the following opinion for the Brunswick, Maine, Times Record.) A report recently released by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials analyzed our nation's freight system. The report found that if we do not maintain, much less improve, our nation's system of moving freight, millions of jobs and our nation's long-term economic health would be put at risk. Unfortunately, we have a potential economic crisis brewing right here in Maine on this very topic.

Montreal, Maine &
Atlantic Railway is seeking to abandon its tracks that run throughout Penobscot
and Aroostook Counties. This abandonment was filed with a federal entity called
the Surface Transportation Board, which is an economic regulatory agency that
Congress charged with the mission of resolving railroad rate and service
disputes.

Back in October 2009, I
met with House Transportation Committee Chairman, Rep. James L. Oberstar,
DFL-Minn., representatives from the Surface Transportation Board and Federal
Railroad Administration and a group of Maine businesses and organizations that
rely on rail service in order to discuss the effects that abandonment would
have on the region.  At the time, we recognized that it would take
everyone working together to keep rail service operational.

And it is crucial for our
economy that we do: 750 to 1,000 direct jobs are at risk and more than 700
indirect jobs could be lost if these lines are abandoned. There are 21
businesses that currently ship by rail that would be forced to find another,
more expensive solution to bring their products to market. According to one
analysis, more than 70,000 trucks would be added to Maine’s roads.

Since that initial
meeting in 2009, I’ve worked closely with the Surface Transportation Board and
Federal Railroad Administration to ensure that there was a fair, transparent
process in which all parties had an opportunity to be heard. I worked to secure
a hearing in Presque Isle so that the Surface Transportation Board chairman,
the board and his staff could get out of Washington and up to Aroostook County
in order to see and hear firsthand how this abandonment would affect the region’s
economy.

At the hearing, which was
held on July 7 in the Presque Isle District Court House, I joined
representatives of the Maine Department of Transportation, economic development
and community leaders, Fraser Timber, Portage Wood Products, Irving Woodlands,
Louisiana Pacific, Huber Engineered Woods and staff from the offices of Sens.
Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins to press our case for preserving rail service.
And as I looked around me during the hearing, I saw a lot of individuals that I’ve
had the privilege of working with on the long-term economic development of this
part of our great state. Unfortunately, all of that hard work could be
devastated by this abandonment.

The economy of a rural
state like Maine cannot grow without a robust and fully functioning
transportation system. In northern Maine, this railroad represents a crucial
part of the economic infrastructure that is so central to the livelihoods of
individuals and families as well as the survival of our local businesses.

I have talked to many
Mainers who are terrified about what abandonment will mean for them, their
families, and their jobs. If this line shuts down, it will devastate the region
and create new challenges for all of us that want to sustain jobs and grow the
northern Maine economy. We need to keep this line open and work together to
make the changes necessary to ensure that it can keep serving the region.

One of the biggest
problems impacting the long-term viability of this line is how unreliable rail
service can often be. It can take days for a load to make it from one part of
Maine to another. Sometimes trains don’t show up. Sometimes they crawl along
broken track at 10 miles per hour. I remember all of this well from my time
loading these rail cars when I worked at Great Northern Paper.

And while the current
railroad has been plagued by inefficiencies that have troubled shippers in the
region for some time, it remains an indispensable part of our economic
infrastructure in northern Maine. It helps Maine businesses ship everything
from wood chips, to finished lumber, to engineered wood products, to logs, to
fuel, to cooking oil to market.

Maine’s congressional
delegation is ready to fight for the federal resources necessary to make this
rail line efficient again. But before we can do that, the state of Maine,
shippers and, most importantly, Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway needs to
show that they are serious about keeping this line operational.

At last October’s meeting
we recognized that it would take everyone working together to keep the railroad
operational. And we can still make sure that it happens. But everyone involved
is going to have to make a sacrifice for the good of the businesses and
individuals that depend on it.

I appreciate that the
Surface Transportation Board held the hearing in Presque Isle. And I appreciate
all of the time that so many people here in Maine have dedicated to saving this
line. I am still hopeful that working together we can save it.