North Bay Area freight train ruling postponed

North Bay Area freight train ruling postponed A Bay Area judge on Tuesday put off his decision on the city of Novato's attempts to stop a regional railroad from re-launching rail freight service though Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties.
   Marin County Superior Court Judge James Ritchie said he will postpone a ruling while he further reviews the arguments of Novato and the North Coast Railroad Authority.
   Last year, Novato officials asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction to stop NCRA repair work on a 62-mile stretch of trackage between Napa and Windsor. The city wants the railroad to expand the environmental documents of the project. The rail authority is upgrading the southern end of the line that runs between Willis and Lombard.
   According to rail line operator Northwestern Pacific Railroad Co., brining freight train service back to the line could generate up to 6,000 carloads of freight headed to Humboldt Bay barges annually. The operator also claims that if fully implemented the rail project could remove the equivalent of 48,000 truck trips annually from the region's roads and highways.
   The postponement comes as a surprise following the judge's tentative ruling Monday that indicated he would side with the city because NCRA did not follow environmental law by creating and Environmental Impact Report on the project.
   NCRA maintains that the $50 million repair project will not expand the rail line and the project therefore does not require an Environmental Impact Report.
   On Monday, the railroad said it would request more than $10 million in state funding and an equal amount from the federal government to complete repair work planned for the northern section of the line.