LD 209 Defeated; LD 404 Remans Alive; 6/22/2023 Public Hearing Before The Lower Road RUAC
- Details
- Created: 19 June 2023 19 June 2023
There’s good news and there’s continuing news.
First, the good news. On June 14, 2023, both the Maine House and Senate voted that LD 209 "ought not to pass." This bill would have resulted in the removal of track between Portland and Augusta from the Berlin Subdivision formerly owned by the St. Lawrence & Atlantic. In voting against passage, the legislature accepted the recommendation of the Transportation Committee, as well as that of the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT). This is great news and we thank everyone who contacted members of the legislature about this bill. However, although that bill is dead for this legislative session, MDOT’s Commissioner has said that he is still studying the issue, so it may come back to haunt us sometime in the future.
Read more: LD 209 Defeated; LD 404 Remans Alive; 6/22/2023 Public Hearing Before The Lower Road RUAC
Write Your Augusta Representatives to Urge Them to Vote Against Bills That Would Tear Up Unused State-Owned Rail Lines for Trails
- Details
- Created: 05 June 2023 05 June 2023
The first half of the Maine 131st Legislature in now in its final weeks and the fate of two unused state-owned rail lines will come before the full Legislature for debate and a final vote. We at TrainRiders have opposed LD 209 (tearing up the Berlin Subdivision formerly owned by St. Lawrence & Atlantic between Portland and Auburn) and LD 404 (tearing up the Mountain Division between Standish and Fryberg), the passage of which would replace rails with trails.
Now it's time for you to write your State Senator and Representative, urging them to vote against passage of LD 209 and LD 404. TrainRiders President F. Bruce Sleeper has sent such a letter to his Augusta representatives asking them to vote against passage of these two destructive bills. We urge you to write your own letter to your Augusta representatives. The attached letter is a guide for the talking points that you can raise and don't copy it word-for-word. Click here for the letter.
A directory of Maine House members, along with a way to determine who your representative may be, is available at https://legislature.maine.gov/house/house/. Similar information for senators is available at https://legislature.maine.gov/senate/.
DANGER, DANGER!!!!! MDOT NEAR TO BEING AUTHORIZED TO TEAR UP RAILS IN MAINE. WE NEED YOUR IMMEDIATE HELP TO STOP THAT FROM HAPPENING.
- Details
- Created: 25 May 2023 25 May 2023
In recent weeks, we have provided our members with multiple warnings that bills had been filed to authorize Maine’s Department of Transportation (“MDOT”) to tear up the rails on the Mountain Division line between Standish and Fryeburg and on the Berlin Subdivision line between Portland and Auburn.
Mountain Division Decisions: On Thursday, 5/24/2022, Maine’s Transportation Committee voted 5-2 (with votes from some additional members pending until noon on Friday, 5/26/2023) to pass LD 404 to allow the Mountain Division rail to be removed and replaced by a trail. It also voted to pass LD 1450, which originally would have provided $18 million to fund rail removal and trail construction for that line, but reduced that to $500 as a placeholder for later consideration by the Appropriations Committee.
Portland to Augusta Decision: The Transportation Committee has also voted 6-1 to reject a bill that would have permitted MDOT to tear up the Berlin Subdivision rail (again, with some additional votes pending). In both instances, the Committee followed the recommendation of MDOT. Once MDOT removes the rail from a line, it will never be economically feasible to replace it, meaning that any removal is effectively a permanent loss of the line to all future rail use and a waste of a valuable asset now owned by the people of Maine.
Conway Scenic Railway Proposal: While trails will provide benefits in these corridors, the best way to maximize their value is to keep the rail in place and require any trail to be constructed alongside, instead of in place of, that track. The Committee, however, voted for the passage of LD 404 even though the Conway Scenic Railway in New Hapshire has made an offer to work with the State to find federal or State funds to rehab that line for passenger and freight use and then operate it without further State subsidy! This offer was made was made in 2022, and was renewed during the hearing process, but was rejected by the Committee without any study of its potential benefits and costs by any party (the Conway Scenic now carries about 135,000 riders a year on its line in the North Conway area).
Next Steps: These bills will now go to the full House and the full Senate for consideration. Over 200 people submitted testimony on these bills and it appears that a significant majority of that testimony came from trail advocates who were in favor of tearing up the rail on both lines. Trail advocates are already at work in large numbers to obtain passage of LD 209 and LD 404. The only way to stop the passage of these bills in the Maine legislature is for as many people as possible to immediately and, if they have the time and energy, repeatedly contact Maine legislators to express their opposition to both bills. We do not know when the full legislature will take up these bills, but the more rail advocates who contact legislators before that time, the better chance that we have to ensure that those bills do not pass.
Your Steps: Access to the bills is available at https://legislature.maine.gov/ (just put in the LD number and click on “Search”), and further information is provided on our Web site. A directory of Maine House members, along with a way to determine who your representative may be, is available at https://legislature.maine.gov/house/house/.
Similar information for senators is available at https://legislature.maine.gov/senate/. Proposed talking points are available at https://www.trainridersne.org/images/stories/talking_points_5-16-23.pdf Please do not merely repeat the exact words used in thosee talking points, but, instead, use your own words to make the case that these rail lines need to be preserved, not only because you want them to be, but because that is what is best for the State of Maine and the northeastern rail network.
Thank you for your help on these important issues. If you have any questions or
comments, or want to coordinate testimony, then, as always, please email TrainRiders
at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
F. Bruce Sleeper, TRN president