ALBANY – New York State Department of Transportation has moved to halt the railroad from discontinuing service along the roughly 41 miles for track that stretches from Chenango Forks to Sherburne.
In a petition filed last week, the NYSDOT requested that the Surface Transportation Board “stay the date of the [New York Susquehanna and Western’s] petition for discontinuance of service on the Utica Branch pending the resolution of the NYS&W’s outstanding contractual obligations.”
The action was taken in response to the Aug. 12 filing with the STB by the Cooperstown-based rail company seeking to discontinue service as of Oct. 1. The line, which NYS&W acquired from Conrail in 1982, has not been actively used since the track was heavily damaged in flooding more than two years ago.
According to the state DOT, “since June 2006, NYS&W has made no attempt to restore the line to service and such failure violates several provisions of the various contracts.”
The petition cites the railroad for failing to maintain the track, not seeking the Commissioner’s approval before filing the notice to discontinue service and for not making arrangements to reimbursement the NYSDOT for approximately $1.29 million in project costs.
The railway currently has 13 contracts (six for “track and structure rehabilitation” and seven for “highway/railroad structure rehabilitation”) open with the NYSDOT related to the Utica Branch, which includes the stretch of track along which they are seeking to discontinue use. These contracts total more than $13 million in taxpayer dollars.
As further evidence of the “overall scope of the public investments in the Utica Branch, the NYSDOT called attention to $3 million provided to the railroad by the New York Empire State Development Corporation. This funding was provided in 2003 for “rehabilitation work” on the line.
The document also disclosed that NYS&W sought the state’s consent to begin abandonment proceedings in June of 2007. The NYSDOT denied this request because the department “did not agree with the NYS&W’s estimate of prior public investments and did not agree with the NYS&W’s proposal to reinstall salvageable materials at further public expense in-lieu of repayment.”
Due to the terms of the existing contracts between NYSDOT and the railroad, New York State “retains ownership of all materials installed,” which the railroad is “obligated to operate and maintain.”
The title to the portion of the track through Chenango County is in the possession of the Chenango County Industrial Development Agency as part of the payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreement between NYS&W and the IDA.
“The IDA holds title which thereby means we own the railroad property and its right of way,” explained the agency’s executive director, Maureen Carpenter. “This is a formality, so to speak. Per our agreement, the IDA does not have authority over the property.”
The executive director said she viewed this most recent development as a positive. “The filing by NYSDOT seeking a stay works in our favor to provide for additional time to finish the study being completed by Stone Consulting,” said Carpenter. “This will also allow us time to consider our legal position and course of action.”
“Going forward, we are still actively working with the New York State Department of Transportation to reach a positive resolution,” said NYS&W spokesperson Melanie Boyer in response. According to Boyer, it would cost the rail company close to a million dollars to repair the damaged section of track.