Railroad and Government officials meet in Roseburg

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Story Published: Jan 23, 2008 at 9:48 AM PDT

By Dan Bain

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Shippers that depended on the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad to get their goods to market before the Eugene to Coquille line was shut down, met in Roseburg Tuesday with federal officials and representatives of RailAmerica.

Representatives of the Surface Transportation Board of the the US Department of Transportation met in Roseburg Tuesday with the Vice President of Operations for RailAmerica, the parent company of Central Oregon & Pacific.

State Representative Susan Morgan says RailAmerica presented a proposal that involved the shippers, the State of Oregon, the railroad and the Oregon Department of Transportation, to work together on repairing the line.

Morgan said it would be a huge policy shift for the state to get involved in the plan.

She said don't expect anything to happen quickly, but added that it is significant that RailAmerica is willing to talk to the shippers and the state and make a proposal.

Morgan says railroad officials plan to present the proposal to the Governor in Salem on Thursday.

CORP closed the line from Eugene to Coquille in September, because of unsafe tunnels.

Earlier this month, the railroad shut down the Siskiyou line from Ashland to Weed, California, except for limited shipping of logs northbound, but they say if that's not profitable they will close it completely.

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