Freight operations are resuming on the Rockland Branch railroad. The Unity-based company Maine Switching Services finalized a lease agreement with the Maine Department of Transportation earlier this week to begin using the nearly 57-mile long freight line.
"We are reactivating signaling systems at railroad crossings to allow for freight rail to resume," said Finn Kelly, government relations manager and spokesperson for Maine Switching Services. "We do have customers who are actively wanting to move their products now."
Customers include Dragon Cement Products in Thomaston, which will use the freight line again to move products, Finn said.
The Rockland line's previous operator, Midcoast Railservice, stopped operations in August after Dragon Cement stopped production. A subsidiary of the German company Heidelberg Materials is closing on its acquisition of Dragon Cement.
Maine Switching Services is not yet proposing to add passenger rail service on the Rockland branch, though Kelly said it remains a goal for the company. It's also exploring the possibility of offering scenic train excursions.
Midcoast Railservice had been working with Amtrack, Maine DOT and the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, which operates the Downeaster, to add passenger service between Rockland and Brunswick. But those plans died out when Midcoast ceased operations last summer.
Maine Switching Services has, however, submitted a proposal with Maine DOT to restore rail service on the 33-mile stretch from Brunswick to Augusta, known as the Lower Road corridor. The company said the corridor is viable for passenger rail.
But the proposal is at odds with recommendations from the Lower Road Rail Use Advisory Council,
a group of nearby residents, town officials and some state lawmakers. The council wants DOT to remove the railroad track and construct a recreational trail from Brunswick to Gardiner.
Kelly said Maine Switching Services is talking with trail advocates and believes both groups could achieve their respective goals.
"They want to see economic development. They want to see environmentally friendly and accessible transportation, and those are the same things that we want," Kelly said.
The Legislature is considering a bill that would authorize DOT to remove the tracks for trail construction.
