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April 4, 2011

Judge upholds MM&A access in rail dispute

By The Mainebiz News Staff

A federal judge has ruled against an injunction against Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, the latest development in the company's dispute with another rail line over access to tracks leading to Twin Rivers Paper Co.

In a ruling released Friday, U.S. District Court Chief Justice John Woodcock Jr. rejected Canadian National Railway Co.'s motion for a preliminary injunction, upholding MM&A's right to control traffic on the 24-mile spur that services the Twin Rivers paper mill in Madawaska, according to the Bangor Daily News. MM&A owns the tracks and previously signed an easement agreement with CN, in which MM&A claimed sole access to the mill. But CN has argued that an error in the easement deeds is unfairly blocking its access to the mill. Twin Rivers has pushed for CN, saying it's more cost-effective, and in December began trucking its paper to Canada to be loaded onto CN freight cars instead of using MM&A, according to the paper. CN sought the injunction to allow it access to the rail spur.

The companies sued each other last year, and in November Woodcock urged the companies to reach a compromise. MM&A officials plan to meet with Twin Rivers officials to discuss the dispute.

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