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>From the Surface Transportation Board, Washington, D.C.
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The Federal Surface Transportation Board agreed to postpone action on the
proposed abandonment of rail lines in Northern Maine in order to give the
parties time to arrive at a mediated solution.
The state of Maine and the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic
Railway Ltd. have agreed to confidential mediation conducted
by the Board. The Board will suspend any formal action on
the matter for three weeks and will postpone a public
hearing scheduled for May 10 in Presque Isle, Maine. The
hearing is postponed until further notice of the Board.
"We are pleased that the parties in the case have decided to
take advantage of the Board's mediation services,'' said STB
Chairman Daniel R. Elliott III. "Agreements resulting from
folks sitting down and negotiating are almost always better
than decisions imposed from Washington."
The railroad has asked the Board for permission to abandon
233 miles of rail line in Aroostook and Penobscot counties.
Maine officials fear the abandonment would hurt the economy
of Northern Maine and cost jobs.
Earlier this month, the Board's Section of Environmental
Analysis released a draft environmental assessment that
found that the abandonment of the lines could divert onto
Maine's highways as many as an additional 73,344 truck trips
per year, consuming an additional 3.3 million gallons of
fuel per year.
( ) n the case, [<a
href="http://www.stb.dot.gov/decisions/readingroom.nsf/WebDecisionID/40766?OpenDocument";>Montreal,
Maine & Atlantic Railway, Ltd – Discontinuance of Service and Abandonment
– In Aroostook and Penobscot Counties, Maine, STB Docket No.
AB-1043 (Sub No. 1)</a>], can be found on the Board's
website at www.stb.dot.gov.
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