Northern California train route may soon see freight trains
The Northwestern Pacific Railroad Co., led by Port Sonoma owner H. Skip Berg and former California Congressman Doug Bosco, said Tuesday it is ready to launch freight service from Windsor, about 50 miles north of San Francisco, to Napa County.
The group hopes to start service in spring 2008.
Freight service on the stretch halted in 2001, but NPRC is ready to revive the service. The rail firm is awaiting negotiations between the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit and the North Coast Rail Authority over needed repairs and maintenance of the tracks.
Federal legislation, which Bosco helped steer through Congress during the 1980s, requires that access be maintained on the tracks for freight service.
Northwestern's report to the California Transportation Commission estimates that the local freight line could carry 1,800 to 2,000 carloads of material a year.
John H. Williams, Northwestern's chief executive officer, said the service would start with freight rolling several times a day, three days a week.