Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith and Congressman Peter DeFazio say the company that owns the embargoed rail line between Eugene and Coos Bay has shirked its duties and urged federal regulators to increase their oversight of carriers.
The three testified before the Surface Transportation Board on Thursday April 24th.
So did Roseburg Forest Products President Allyn Ford, who also represents shippers along the line.
All complained about the problems the shippers has faced since Central
Oregon & Pacific Railroad abruptly closed the line last September.
The shutdown hurt businesses that had to scramble to find alternate means of getting their goods to market.
Senator Smith says the railroad has to 'step up and meet its responsibility or be held accountable by the STB'.
The railroad cited safety reasons in closing the line last fall.
It has offered to reopen the line only if the state provides a subsidy.
Last Friday, RailAmerica Vice President Paul Lundberg told the Surface Transportation Board that the company made a sincere effort to enter into a public private partnership with the stakeholders of the Coos Bay spur line and they were ‘surprised’ by the negative reaction.
Lundberg said each of the stakeholders had a vested interest in the line and Rail America was trying to repair and reopen the line amid what Lundberg called ‘extraordinary circumstances’ once they learned the tunnels on the line were in danger of failing.
Lundberg’s testimony came on Friday, a day after Oregon representatives described the impact the embargo of the Coos Bay line has had on local companies and jobs.
STB Chair Chip Nottingham told Lundberg that Rail America should realize that the time for a public private partnership might have been when they bought the line, not after closing it and then asking for help.
He said Rail America is testing their patience.
Board member W. Douglas Buttrey told Lundberg Rail America was ‘extraordinarily lucky’ they are not dealing with the death of employees from a failed tunnel and a criminal negligence case in court.
Lundberg insists RailAmerica hired a professional engineering firm to inspect the tunnels as soon as they purchased CORP. It took a year for the report to come out and they closed the line immediately.
According to Lundberg, Rail America still has ideas about ways to reopen the line. Officials with the line have been given until May 12th to explain why the embargo – now seven months old – is not an illegal abandonment.