Members of the Coos-Siskiyou Shippers Coalition have been invited Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski to attend a roundtable discussion on transportation issues in Medford this afternoon. According to CSSC spokesman Bob Ragon, the meeting is about transportation, but the focus will be on railroad issues and a lot of talk about the Siskiyou Line. Ragon will attend the roundtable along with Eric Vos of Timber Products of Springfield and Mark McClain of Roseburg Forest Products. According to State Representative Susan Morgan, all of the paperwork has been filed for CORP to abandon the Coos Bay line and the International Port of Coos Bay has acquired 12 million dollars in state and federal funding in order to purchase the line. The Port also has a 12.5 million dollar line of credit. The Surface Transportation Board is in the process of determining the value of the line in order to determine a selling price. In the meantime, Governor Kulongoski, Senators Smith and Wyden and Congressman DeFazio have all joined in asking the STB to hold a field hearing on the situation in Oregon.
UPDATE: Governor Ted Kulongoski is directing a roundtable discussion on railroad issues in Oregon this afternoon in Medford. It’s a golden chance for business owners and regional government officials to have direct contact with the Governor on an issue that has cost millions in increased shipping costs. Bob Ragon, Spokeman for the Coos Siskiyou Shippers Coalition is among those invited. Oregon State Representative Susan Morgan is also in the meeting. Ragon feels says support has swung to the shippers’ court, in their efforts to support an application from the International Port of Coos Bay to take over the line that was embargoed last September. Today’s meeting starts at 1. According to the Governor’s Office, the roundtable is a public meeting. It was originally scheduled to be held at the Medford Chamber of Commerce, but so many people expressed interest in attending that the meeting was moved to the Library. In addition to Ragon and other shippers who want to talk about rail issues, Harry and David Representatives will discuss air service with the Governor and others want to discuss transit issues. Around 25 people are expected to speak.
A handful of southern Oregon rail customers and a few elected officials were given time with Governor Ted Kulogoski yesterday afternoon in Medford. State Representative Susan Morgan says the Governor addressed the transportation concerns of several businesses during a roundtable discussion lasting more than an hour and a half. Then, Kulongoski met privately with rail customers such as the Coos Siskiyou Shippers Coalition, Timber Products and Roseburg Forest Products. According to Morgan, representatives from those groups thanked the Governor for his support in the matter of the CORP embargo to the coast and updated him on the current situation. Shippers’ spokesman Bob Ragon said he talked to the Governor about the way RailAmerica is handling the Siskiyou Rail Line between Medford and Weed, as well. The Governor invited approximately more than 25 people to the discussion, which was also open to the public. A representative of the Governor’s office said the meeting was moved to the Jackson County Library in Medford due to the number of people interested in the topic of transportation.
I have not heard anything yet from RFP, Timber Products & The Coos-Siskiyou Coalition from their private talks with the Governor. I will ask them, but I don't not expect to get an answer back from them today.
This is from the Siskiyou Daily Snooze: By David Smith Daily News Fri Aug 29, 2008, 09:48 AM PDT Siskiyou County, Calif. - The Siskiyou County Economic Development Council board room was the place to be for news on the fate of the Siskiyou Summit rail line yesterday, as representatives from Timber Products, Roseburg Forest Products, city councils, the Yreka Chamber of Commerce, the Siskiyou County Economic Development Council, Yreka Western Railroad and the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors gathered for an important informational session on how to address the shipping crisis on the Siskiyou Line. Erik Vos, from Timber Products, said, “This has been a true team effort,” thanking all of the people and organizations that have united behind the cause. Vos began by reading from a press release put out by the Coos–Siskiyou Shippers Coaliton regarding the events leading up to the press conference. The release stated, “August 27, 2008; Roseburg, Oregon: The Coos/Siskiyou Shippers Coalition announced today that they have filed an emergency Petition for Alternative Rail Service with the Surface Transportation Baord (STB) to allow West Texas and Lubbock Railway (WTL) and Yreka Western to operate the Siskiyou Summit Line. “According to Bob Ragan, spokesperson for the Coalition, ‘This is especially good news to the shippers, travelers on I-5 and the communities of Northern California and Southern Oregon. The shippers are especially hopeful that the Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad (CORP) will stand aside and allow another short line operator to provide the needed service that they could not, or would not provide. “The CORP, a division of Rail America, announced last December that they would no longer provide service southbound between Ashland, Oregon and Weed, California and that they would curtail northern service from Weed to Ashland from five days per week to two. They further stated that unless they found ways to increase traffic (and revenue) and profitability of the Siskiyou Summit line by April 15, 2008 all service might be terminated or rate schedules altered to achieve their objectives. “Due to CORP’s inadequate and erratic service levels, compounded by their sudden and significant rate increases of over 300 percent, the shippers were essentially faced with a de facto abandonment of the line which resulted in a transportation and economic emergency for the shippers, the Yreka Western Railroad, and the community stakeholders in northern California and southern Oregon.” The press release goes on to state that the shippers on the line had to switch to hauling what would have normally been transported by rail to transport by truck, which, according to a study by Dr. David Gallo, Department of Economics, California State University, Chico, has a financial impact of a loss of $9.1 million dollars annually on local economies. The study cites such things as added fuel costs, added emissions, increased truck–related fatalities and injuries, and the increased cost of maintaning roads and highways because of increased heavy truck traffic. The release said that WTL, “a successful short line operator who has a record of rescuing troubled rail lines, is able and willing to restore service to the south end of the Siskiyou Summit line in cooperation with the Yreka Western Railroad should the Shippers’ Coalition emergency Petition for Alternative Rail Service be successful.” When asked what the rails are like on the Siskiyou Line, Vos said that he believes that they are in “pretty good” shape. Vos also answered that having WTL step forward to offer to run the line is “a tremendous relief,” adding that “rail is an essential element to the health of any economy.” Court Hammond, president of Yreka Western Railroad, said that the loss of service on the line has had a “tremendous impact” and there has been no freight income since shippers had to switch to trucks or face a large increase on rail shipping costs. Mark Mclean of Roseburg Forest Products said of the process of reviving the line, “I think we will be setting precedence with this,” adding that CSSC has received a great amount of support from the government of Southern Oregon. Siskiyou County Supervisor Michael Kobseff, executive director of the Yreka Chamber of Commerce Pete LaFortune, Montague Mayor John Hammond and Brenda Woods from the Weed City Council all voiced their appreciation of everyone involved, explaining the various benefits that restoring the line will serve for Siskiyou County. Phoning in for the conference was Ed Ellis, from WTL, who explained the nature of WTL’s involvement with trying to restore the line. Ellis said that the Siskiyou Summit line’s similarity to a line in Colorado run by WTL means “we’re familiar with running a railraod like that.” Ellis also mentioned that WTL has qualified supervisors ready to begin work on the line should the decision by the STB be in CSSC’s favor, and those supervisors will work in partnership with Court Hammond and Yreka Western. “We’re very supportive of the shippers,” Ellis said. “We have a good relationship with Rail America,” Ellis stated. “We have explained that we’re coming in as a contractor to the shippers.” Ellis also said that one underlying conflict is that shippers want rail service to be restored and improved, and Rail America wants their asset to be protected. He went on to say that earlier on, WTL made an offer to purchase the Siskiyou subdivision but Rail America said that they weren’t ready to sell it. Ellis hit home the point that ultimately, the fate of the line comes down to the STB’s decision. Vos explained that the CSSC filed a petition with the STB on Tuesday, which calls for “alternative rail service” and “partial revocation of commodity exemption” on the Siskiyou Summit line. He said that Rail America essentially has five business days to file a response, followed by a three day rebuttal period, after which the STB will have 30 days to render their decision. The 88–page petition defines what the CSSC and other organizations feel are the problems created by CORP’s “slow–motion abandonment” of the line and how CSSC hopes the STB will resolve the issue in order to reopen what many feel is a direct lifeline for Siskiyou County’s tourism, businesses and economy as a whole.
And people wonder why CORP and rail america are getting a bad rep. Just how much railroad are they going to have left to run?
Best thing RailGenerica can do is cut their losses and leave the area, which is what they seem to be doing. I do have a quetion- what have CORP's carloadings been year to year?
