The state’s successful campaign to purchase the Bath-Rockland line had its critics, who wondered, reasonably, why the public should own a railbed that private enterprise had abandonded.

Tuesday’s announcement that freight shipments on the line could begin as early as next month does not confirm the wisdom of buying the 50-mile coastal run, but it does support the argument that the line was inherently valuable and that its continued deterioration would have been a serious loss to the state of Maine.

Originally envisioned as a potential passenger route, a means to transport workers to Bath Ironworks from the Rockland area, the run’s immediate resurgence instead will be supported by Rockland-bound shipments of chemicals, steel and propane. The line’s prospects are even brighter, if Dragon Cement in Thomaston puts the considerable weight of its raw materials and finished product on the rails.

The agreement between the Maine Department of Transportation and the Maine Coast Railroad is a significant accomplishment for a state that invested in the future of its railroads, and impressively reinforces the commitment of the people of Maine to maintain the option of rail service.

Although the cost of repairing these railbeds is significant, given the crisis in the Persian Gulf, and the resulting national reassessment of U.S. energy policy and priorities, this state’s early decision to support its rail infrastructure is likely to be vindicated, and has the potential to pay big dividends in regional development.