ALERT! Bad news for Cumberland, Falmouth, North Yarmouth, New Gloucester, Yarmouth, Pownal, and Auburn
Last year, the Maine legislature authorized the Maine Dept. of Transportation (MDOT) to tear up the rails on the state-owned Mountain Division between Standish and Fryeburg, Maine, and replace them with a trail, destroying any hope of future freight or passenger rail service on that line. Now, with a new legislature, things have gone from bad to worse. This year, there are two bills, LD 30 and LD 511, to authorize MDOT to do the same thing on part (LD 30) or all (LD 511) of the State-owned portion of the Berlin Subdivision line between Portland and the Auburn/New Gloucester border (AKA the Casco Bay Trail). Removing these rails will fully and finally destroy even the possibility of rail service on these lines.
The Mountain Division bill was passed even though the Conway Scenic Railroad had expressed interest in using that line. Similarly, the Lower Road bill is being considered even though another rail company, Maine Switching Service, which MDOT has chosen to operate the Rockland Branch, has expressed interest in running the line between Brunswick and Augusta. REMOVAL OF THE RAILS FROM ANY OF THESE LINES WILL NOT ONLY DESTROY RAIL SERVICE LOCALLY BUT ALSO UNDERCUT REGIONAL RAIL THROUGHOUT MAINE.
Maine’s Transportation Committee has set public hearings on these new bills to be held starting at 1 pm on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Room 126 of the State House. Trail organizations are already working to ensure that large numbers of trail supporters appear at that hearing and file written testimony supporting the passage of these bills. We need as many people as we can to testify against these bills!!
Time is of the essence here. You can take several steps to prevent the irretrievable loss of what could be viable rail service in Maine. These include the following:
1. Immediately sign the petition appearing at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdmEPTDNhMhRm4_jtkRBiAuJkCcn72l..., signaling your support for rail service in Maine and your opposition to the new bills. Together with Maine Rail Group, we will present the petition to the Transportation Committee at or before the public hearings.
2. Immediately contact your legislators if you are a Maine citizen to show your opposition to these bills. You can find the contact information for your local and state representatives here
3. File written testimony against the passage of these bills with the Transportation Committee. If you appear in person at the hearings on one or more of the bills, then you must submit 20 copies of your written testimony to the Committee clerk at the hearing itself. If you do not intend to appear in person, then you can file your testimony online by going to https://www.mainelegislature.org/testimony/. Please check the “Public Hearing” box on that page, then read the instructions on the next page and choose “Transportation” at the bottom of that page. Choose the first “Mar 4 2025 1:00 PM” box for the hearing time and date, and then click on the bill number (LD 30, or 511) about which you are submitting testimony (you must submit testimony for each bill separately, so you may have to go through this several times). You must then upload the testimony and insert your name and contact information at the bottom of the page. If you file your testimony online, please do so before the hearings are scheduled to begin.
4. If possible, attend the public hearings on the new bills and testify against them orally even after filing written testimony. Oral testimony has more impact than merely submitting paperwork to the Committee. Although attending in person is best, appearing by Zoom is far better than missing the hearing entirely. To testify orally via Zoom, you need to sign up for Zoom attendance at least 30 minutes in advance of the start of the posted start time of the hearings (1 pm on 3/4/2025). You can sign up by using the same pages you may have used for submitting online written testimony since the last of those pages has a box that you would check stating that “I would like to testify electronically over Zoom.” Please note that you will almost certainly be required to limit your oral testimony to 3 minutes. You do not have to submit written testimony to testify orally, either in person or by Zoom. It is best, however, to submit both forms of testimony if you have the time and energy to do so. As with online testimony, you must sign up to testify against each bill separately.
5. Immediately contact friends and others to get them to oppose the passage of these bills by contacting legislators and/or testifying.
ASK THE GOVERNOR to please consider additional study - a comprehensive study of all Maine-owned railroad infrastructure - how it works as a system and how it fits into the national and international system. What actual economic and environmental value do these railroad assets have? At a time when we have attracted a Class one railroad to Maine (CSX) this is not time to disconnect routes that connect with the mainline. Stop and think about this. We need more information than what has been done by groups, including MeDOT that are in support of trails.
Thanks to Tony Donovan at the Maine Rail Transit Coalition for this legislative update.