NORWICH – Rumors that the New York Susquehanna & Western Railroad will cease operations through the county’s center are false, according a spokesperson for the railroad.
“Any decision that the railroad is closed is false,” Tom O’Neil of NYS&W said. “There has been no decision.”
Sections of the Chenango Forks to Sherburne route were damaged from flooding in the region June 26 and transportation from Binghamton north abruptly ceased. Shortly thereafter, the Cooperstown-based company published a legal notice of its pending abandonment of the route.
NYS&W Public Relations Manager Nathan Fenno said in August that railroad industry regulations require properties to examine their routes on a routine basis and report underutilized sections. The notice “was merely a formality,” he said, and had nothing to do with the flooded-out section nor actually closing the route permanently.
The two businesses in the county that depend on rail transportation - one in Sherburne and one in Smyrna - have been able to continue transporting goods along the NYS&W northern routes.
Members of the Chenango County Planning Board discussed the railroad’s viability last week, and questioned whether it would eventually be abandoned forever.
“I hear it sounds pretty bleak. Are they not going to invest in that anymore?” David Law, R-Norwich, asked.
Board Chairman Kenneth Ryan of Oxford asked, “Is there anything anybody can do rather than sit back and watch it fail?”
“Somebody ought to be accountable. Towns still have to pay money to the railroad for utility lines to cross it. Who’s obligated on the railroad line? I think there ought to be some answers,” Law said.
Donna M. Jones, director, Chenango County Department of Planning and Development, told members of the board that the current shut-down forced a bio-diesel company that was interested in building along state Route 12 South in the Town of Norwich to look elsewhere.
“We were number one on their list before the flood. Then we went to number 9. Now we are off the list completely because of the railroad,” she said.
The cost for a new Halfway House bridge between Norwich and Oxford could be $225,000 less if the line doesn’t re-open. Public Works Director Randy Gibbon said that would be the price for a new NYS&W crossing on the east side. “If they aren’t going to reconstruct the railroad, then we don’t want to put in a crossing,” he said. The project currently awaits design approvals from the state.
According to the Chenango County Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development Director, railroad officials are waiting for economic assistance from a state agency. “They aren’t going to put their own money into it,” Maureen Carpenter said. “We need to put pressure on the railroad to fix it through our elected officials. Then maybe they will be more inclined to go to state agencies to receive money for the repairs.”
Carpenter said discussions are underway with another company that could site a distribution center in the county. “The fact is we need to promote that we have rail access,” she said.
While real estate sales have dropped since the onslaught of power lines fears, companies continue to look at Chenango County for development. Carpenter said, “A lot of people from out-of-state are seeing what opportunities we have – the quality of life, the nice beauty, the potential for development here. And it is reasonably priced.”