TCRY to provide Mare Island rail service

Lennar Mare Island has stepped in to provide rail service to Mare Island following last year's withdrawal by San Francisco Bay Railroad, the Times-Herald reports. Tri City & Olympia Railroad Company, doing business as Mare Island Rail Service, has entered into short-term agreements of about a year with developer Lennar Mare Island and the city of Vallejo, said developer spokesman Jason Keadjian. In the meantime, officials will assess the long-term viability of Mare Island rail, Keadjian said. San Francisco Bay Railroad severed its ties to Vallejo and rail car refurbishers Alstom, on Mare Island, following a ruling by a federal railroad oversight board in late December. During the prior year, the rail company had cleared and improved tracks in Vallejo and just over the Wichels Causeway to Mare Island. The company had sought the right to provide freight shipping for all businesses on Mare Island -- not just Alstom. However, Lennar Mare Island, track owners on the former military base, said the company was not the right fit, and the oversight entity, the Surface Transportation Board, ruled in the developer's favor. Mare Island Rail Service is bringing Amtrak rail cars to Alstom's warehouse from nearby Flosden Acres, where existing rail service takes over, said Telly Sionides, Alstom's Mare Island site manager. Lennar Mare Island managed Mare Island rail service from 2002 to March 2008, until ceasing operations due to economic difficulties. "LMI (Lennar Mare Island) is hopeful that other Mare Island businesses will take advantage of this service in the future, however truck transport is expected to remain a competitive alternative," Keadjian wrote.