MM&A seeks to sell disputed rail line
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway is planning to sell about 25 miles of railroad tracks leading to Twin Rivers Paper Co. to Eastern Maine Railway. The move would end MM&A's dispute with another shipping company over who has rights to handle freight from the Madawaska paper mill.
If the Federal Rail Administration and the Maine Department of Transportation sign off on the deal, Eastern Maine Railway will buy the tracks for an undisclosed amount, according to the Bangor Daily News. EMR operates 233 miles of tracks in northern Maine that the state bought for $20 million after MM&A announced plans to abandon the lines.
MM&A has been embroiled in a legal battle with Canadian Railway Co. over access to the 25-mile spur, arguing an easement agreement bars CN from handling Twin Rivers' shipping. Last year, CN sued MM&A, claiming the agreement contained an error and seeking a preliminary injunction to allow it to operate on the tracks, a move Twin Rivers supported. This April, a federal judge rejected the preliminary injunction. MM&A President and CEO Robert Grindrod told the paper the company wants to sell the contentious spur because it doesn't generate a lot of traffic and the company is unlikely to regain Twin Rivers' business. Twin Rivers now trucks its paper to Canada for rail transportation.
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