Transportation Committee Hears Public Testimony on RUAC Bills to Rip Up Mountain Division & Berlin Subdivision Rails (Between Portland and Auburn)
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- Created: 20 May 2023 20 May 2023
The Thursday Transportation Committee hearing was a bit grueling. (just ask Chairman Wayne Davis and Bill Lord who were up there with me, as well as Tom Mahon and Bob Hall who attended by Zoom). First, the café was closed for rehab. Second, the hearing that was supposed to begin at 1 pm didn’t start until after 2:30 pm because the House remained in session on other matters until then. Third, there were lots and lots of witnesses attending both in person and by Zoom, meaning that we didn’t finish up until about 6 pm, and that each witness was limited to only two minutes of time to talk. Despite that, Bill, Tom and I each testified. My written testimony is attached.
Given the 2-minute time limit, I didn’t get to do anything more in my oral testimony except to emphasize that once rail is removed, it will never be put back because of the cost of doing so. I also testified that the issue is not whether we should have rail or trail but, instead, that the question is whether Maine wants to give up an irreplaceable economic and social asset (rail) for trails or, for some additional money, preserve those assets using rail with a trail.
There were so many witnesses that they blurred together for me, and it’s impossible for me to say much about what they each said. Two major matters do stick out, however;
Important Hearing This Thursday (5/18/23) at 1pm in Augusta on Ripping Up Unused Rails for Trails (Updated 5/15/2023)
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- Created: 13 May 2023 13 May 2023
This update corrects our prior notice dated 5/13/2023 in order to reflect that MDOT
does not support removal of the rail from the line between Portland and Auburn, and
that it does not support passage of the bill that would provide funding for the removal of
the Mountain Division line at this point in time.
We previously warned that the formation of Rail Use Advisory Councils (RUAC) in Maine could lead to the ripping up of State-owned rail lines, whether or not those lines have future rail potential. That danger has now become very, very real.
In spring 2022, one RUAC recommended that the rails on the Mountain Division line be removed. In December 2023, another RUAC recommended the removal of the rail on the line (formerly owned by the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad) between Portland and Auburn (also known as the “Berlin Subdivision”).
RUAC Berlin Subdivision Recommendation
RUAC Mountain Division Recommendation
The Commissioner of the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) approved of the recommendation to remove the rails from the Mountain Division, but rejected the recommendation for removal of rails from the Berlin Subdivision.
However, bills were submitted to the legislature this year to permit removal of rail from both lines. In both instances, the rail lines would be replaced by trails. A hearing on these bills is now scheduled to be heard in Augusta by the Transportation Committee starting at 1 pm this coming Thursday, 5/18/2023. Passage of these bills, and approval by the Governor, would then permit the removal of the rail on these lines as soon as money became available to do so.
TrainRiders Northeast absolutely opposes passage of LD 404, LD 1450 and LD 209. The removal of the rail from these lines is shortsighted and irreversible steps that would eliminate even the possibility of future rail use on these lines. In theory, the lines would be preserved for rail use at some point in the future, but, in fact, removal of the track on those lines would make their reconversion to rail economically impossible. TrainRiders position is that any trails should be constructed beside the existing rails, with appropriate separation and fencing to ensure that the trails would not impede future rail use after any necessary track upgrades.
Trainriders Elects a New President
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- Created: 19 April 2023 19 April 2023
Since TrainRiders’ creation in 1989, Wayne Davis has been both its president and chair of its board. In the last part of 2022, TrainRiders’ board elected F. Bruce Sleeper as president of the organization, effective as of January 1, 2023. Wayne, of course, remains as chair, but separation of the chair and president positions will allow him to concentrate on policy issues, as well as maintaining the close personal connections that he has created over the years and which have been so important to TrainRiders’ success. Bruce, on the other hand, will handle many of the organization’s day-to-day activities.
For those of you who do not know him, you can rest assured that Bruce comes to his new position with an unmatched breadth of experience. Bruce has served as volunteer legal counsel to TrainRiders since 1989, just a few months after its creation, while also working at the Portland law firm of Jensen Baird Gardner & Henry until his at least partial retirement on December 31, 2023. He wrote the original version of Maine’s Passenger Rail Service Act, which, in 1991, became the first citizen-initiated bill adopted by the Maine legislature without the need for voter approval. That Act directed the Maine Dept. of Transportation to spend a minimum of $40 million to reinitiate passenger rail service between Portland and Boston. In 1995, he worked with MDOT to include provisions in that Act for the creation of Maine’s rail authority, the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, to contract for the construction and operation of this service. Then-Governor King appointed him to a five-year term on NNEPRA’s inaugural board of directors. In 2015, Bruce also successfully represented TrainRiders in extensive proceedings before the Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection, helping to ensure that NNEPRA would be able to build its maintenance and layover facility in Brunswick.
In addition to these activities, Bruce worked closely with Wayne on many, many other issues faced by TrainRiders, including attendance at meetings throughout the Maine, New England, Washington, DC and elsewhere, as well as talking to and working with Wayne on a daily basis. He has already stepped into his new role without much, if any, transition time. In fact, he comments that his new position will not be much different from what he has done before, just more of it.
Bruce was born in Maine and attended Cape Elizabeth schools. He obtained a BA from the University of Chicago in 1978 and a JD from the University of Michigan in 1981, and then immediately returned to Maine to both work and raise a family. We can look forward to seeing more of Bruce in the future as he finishes up his tenure as a practicing attorney.