PRESS RELEASE – Ukiah – June 21, 2011

NCRA APPROVES EIR AND SMART AGREEMENT

North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA) Chairman Hal Wagenet today announced that NCRA has cleared all of the hurdles necessary to restart freight service from Napa Junction to Windsor.

Wagenet made the announcement following NCRA’s June 20 approval of its Environmental Impact Report (EIR); approval of its joint operating agreement with the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit District (SMART) governing use of the shared rail corridor; and approval of an agreement with Novato to install “Quiet Zones” and run trains slowly through Novato’s downtown.

He said that as soon as the Novato City Council approves the agreement, which it is expected to consider June 28, “We will launch commercial freight service on the historic Northwestern Pacific (NWP) tracks between Napa, Marin, and Sonoma Counties.”

The NCRA has invested over $60 mil. since 2007 to repair 56 crossing signals, replace 50,000 crossties and 23 tons of ballast, shore-up levees near Schellville and repair 43 trestles and rail bridges between Windsor and the connection with the national rail system south of Napa (Napa Junction/Lombard).

NCRA leases the track to a private short haul rail operator, the NWP Co. The company’s President, Mr. John Williams, has said he intends to operate 3 round-trips per week hauling feed grains, wood products, building materials, wine and other general merchandise during the start-up phase between Napa and Windsor.

On May 5, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) gave permission to reopen the line it ordered closed in 1998 due to safety concerns. On June 15, SMART approved an agreement to share the track with NCRA between Novato and Windsor. NCRA’s concurrence with the SMART agreement, certification of the EIR, and approval of the Novato agreement at is June 20 meeting in Healdsburg “removes all obstacles to the long-awaited return of trains to the North Coast,” said Wagenet. He said that NCRA and NWP Co. have agreed to all of Novato’s requested changes to the 2008 Novato lawsuit settlement, and is confident that the Novato City Council will do the same. “As soon as Novato approves,” the North Coast will once again be connected by rail to the rest of the Country,” said Wagenet.

The North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA) was formed in 1989 by the California Legislature under the North Coast Railroad Authority Act, Government Code Section 93000, et seq. The mission of the North Coast Railroad Authority is to provide a unified & revitalized rail infrastructure meeting the freight and passenger needs of the region; a first class service working in partnership with others to build and sustain the economy of the region.