Lawmakers from Northern Maine are working on legislation that would allow the state to buy 241 miles of railroad tracks between Madawaska and Millinocket that Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway wants to abandon because of high maintenance costs.
Rep. Charles Theriault (D-Madawaska), with support from several other legislators from Aroostook and Penobscot counties, has submitted legislation for the Legislature’s next session that would authorize a $20 million bond allowing the state to purchase and upgrade the railroad tracks, according to the Bangor Daily News. Bangor-based MM&A said earlier this month that it wants to abandon the tracks because the recession and annual maintenance costs of about $2.5 million had rendered the tracks unprofitable. It wants the state to buy and maintain the tracks. The tracks and land between Madawaska and Millinocket are worth roughly $17 million, according to the paper. Upgrading the tracks would cost an estimated $6 million, on top of the annual maintenance costs.
Theriault told the paper that submitting the bill was just the first step in what would be a lengthy process. “I just wanted to submit the bill so that we could explore all of our options. I wanted to make the first move,” he told the paper. “I feel that if the tracks were abandoned, it would isolate this area and hurt economic development.”