State still mulling rail lines takeover
State transportation officials have tapped an attorney and a consulting firm in an effort to prevent the pending abandonment of 240 miles of rail lines in Aroostook and Penobscot counties.
Maine Department of Transportation officials announced yesterday they have hired an attorney familiar with transportation issues and are working with consulting firm Railroad Industries to identify a potential business solution to allow the rail service to continue, according to the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. Hermon-based Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway, which owns the lines from Millinocket to Madawaska, announced Feb. 4 it would file its official notice of abandonment around Feb. 24. The attorney has filed a request with MMA for more information about its abandonment filing.
MMA first announced in August it wanted to sell the rail lines to the state, citing a 40% drop in business and an annual $2.5 million maintenance cost that made operation unprofitable. Lawmakers have proposed a $20 million bond to buy the tracks, but Ed Mazurek, D-Rockland, co-chair of the Legislature's Transportation Committee, told MPBN last month it was unlikely the state would be able to fund the cost of purchasing the rail lines.
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