Shuttered Coos Bay rail line in better shape than thought

Shuttered Coos Bay rail line in better shape than thought A Port of Coos Bay-commissioned inspection of critical tunnels and bridges along an abandoned rail line between Coquille and Eugene, Ore., are in no worse shape than when the line's owner shuttered the line a year ago, according to the Register-Guard newspaper.
   The Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad told the U.S. Surface Transportation Board in a June filing that the railroad had ceased seeking financial solutions to repair and reopen the 136-mile-long Coos Bay rail line, and the railroad fully intended 'to abandon the Coos Bay line at the earliest time permitted under the Board's regulations.'
   The railroad, which is owned by Florida-based Fortress Investment Group through COPR parent firm RailAmerica, told the STB that Oregon state officials' assertions at the time that the railroad might reopen the line if the state, shippers and stakeholders put up the railroad's estimate of $23 million to repair and upgrade the line were wrong.
   The port has since moved to purchase the line in a planned effort to reopen it. It commissioned the inspection to determine whether the railroad's claims on the line's deteriorating conditions were valid.
   Last year, COPR used a federal railroad law that allows for an embargo or temporary emergency stoppage of service, to shutter the Eugene and Coquille freight route. RailAmerica originally pointed to safety issues regarding three tunnels on the line in calling the emergency closure.
   COPR and RailAmerica claim they did their best to keep the line open, even going as far as spending 40 percent of COPR's gross profits to maintain the rails, bridges and crossings along the route.
   The inspection comes as good news to the port, which found out recently the line may be more expensive to purchase due to increased scrap value of the line equipment and hardware.
   Originally estimate to be worth $9.6 million, according to the paper, a recent survey found scrap value for the trackage pushed the value to more than $14 million, according to the paper.
   The port has offered up to $4 million in state transportation grant funding to reopen the line and expects to receive more than $8 million if U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., can shift money from funds Congress had allocated to repair a Coos Bay rail bridge. Further funds, the port told the paper, would have to be sought from private investors.
   'We've got a line of credit, and we're developing a repayment plan based on the revenue stream that will be generated from reopening rail service,' Martin Callery, the port's director of communications and freight mobility, told the paper.
   The port estimates it could cost $20 million to $50 million to completely overhaul the rail line, Callery said.