Northern Maine fears east-west rail loss Municipal officials say elimination of service would compromise region’s economy

AUGUSTA – Sen. Paul Davis noticed something unusual on a trip to Massachusetts last weekend – no for-sale signs.

The Sangerville Republican said anyone who spends any time in the Milo-Brownville Junction area gets used to seeing the signs on virtually every other house, because of the region’s faltering economy, he told the Legislature’s Transportation Committee on Monday. He was testifying in support of LD 881, a bill to study service along the east-west rail corridor.

If that rail service is lost, even more for-sale signs will dot the lawns of the area, Davis said.

One municipal official said the loss of rail service would cause “a mass exodus.” It seems like every week, another family packs up the pickup truck and leaves the area for good, town managers told the committee as they implored members to do everything they could to protect what was left of east-west rail service.

Rail service from Vanceboro to Jackman is provided by Iron Road Railroad, the parent company of Bangor and Aroostook Railroad and the Canadian American Railroad. Every plant closing that decreases rail freight traffic puts the line closer to the break-even point and the possibility of sale or closing, transportation officials said.

No one spoke for Iron Road at the hearing, and the railroad’s Bangor office declined comment Monday.

No assessment of the east-west corridor has been completed since 1987, according to Rep. Sharon Libby Jones, D-Greenville, the sponsor of the legislation. The line had brisk passenger service to Montreal through the 1940s and 1950s, but the line dropped passenger service in 1976 and now survives on freight only, she said. The service is “the economic heartbeat” of northern Maine, with established paper companies and proposed development, including the Loring Development Corp., depending on its existence, she said.

The line is “very important to the economic development of northern Maine,” an area that has lost 3,000 residents in the last decade, said co-sponsor Rep. Joseph Clark, D-Millinocket. Sen. Tom Sawyer, R-Bangor, said the study and preservation of the east-west rail corridor was “in the best interests of the entire state.”

Loss of the rail service would cause a “mass exodus” of people and companies from the area, said Brownville Town Manager Sophia Wilson.

Great Northern Paper Co. is in the midst of a $100 million expansion, which is expected to burn 200,000 gallons of fuel every four days, according to company spokesman Dick Gould. It would be impossible to bring that much fuel over the roads if the line is lost, he said.

With the devastating loss of hundreds of jobs at Dexter Shoe Co., a major employer for four decades, the area is even more dependent on rail service to attract new industry, said Milo Town Manager Jane Jones.

Routes 6 and 15 have all the truck traffic they can stand now, said Greenville Town Manager John Simko. The loss of east-west rail service would dramatically increase heavy traffic, further damage those roads, and cripple efforts to develop a tourist rail excursion which is proposed to bring 600-800 people a week into the area, he said.

The Legislature must decide if it wants rail service enough to vote annual subsidies, said DOT Commissioner John Melrose, who did not endorse the blue ribbon commission legislation Monday. If there are further paper company plant closings and the development at Loring never materializes, the justification for operating the line “could quickly unravel,” he warned.

Melrose compared the proposal for Greenville rail excursions to the cruise boats that bolster coastal economies in Portland and Bar Harbor. But, he warned, passenger traffic won’t pay the bills and a high level of freight is required to keep the east-west line open.

The Transportation Committee will consider the bill at a work session at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.