Valley Railroad Request Raises Concerns

The Valley Railroad Company, in conjunction with the state Department of Transportation (DOT), has

applied for a $15.5 million grant under the federal stimulus program to upgrade and rehabilitate miles of track from Old Saybrook to southern Middletown for the purpose of increasing freight and passenger service on the rail lines. The proposal has created some concerns in Connecticut River Valley towns.

Deep River First Selectman Dick Smith has written a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation questioning the value of the proposal and asking that it be halted "at least until elected officials and residents of our area have an opportunity to obtain

additional information."

The state's transportation

department has partnered with seven freight rail companies

operating in Connecticut to seek $109 million in federal funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The

Valley Railroad Company is one of the seven.

The Valley Railroad's grant application says the company will "spearhead a multi-agency, public and private effort to reopen dormant sections of, and rehabilitate for combination modern freight and expanded tourist/passenger service, the entire 22-mile section of leased and operated track from Old Saybrook to Maramos (in southern Middletown). In addition, the project will establish interchange at Old Saybrook with the Providence & Worchester Railroad as well as establish interchange at Maramos for freight trains to/from Middletown, Hartford, and beyond with the Providence & Worchester Railroad."

Presently, the railroad

company operates a museum and tourist destination with a station in Essex and its goal is the preservation of historic steam engines. It operates steam and diesel train excursions from

Essex to just below Haddam that attract thousands of visitors each year. Although the company upgrades its infrastructure annually, at present it runs only passenger excursions for tourists in the southernmost 12 or 13 miles of track it operates.

What has concerned some of the area's elected officials and residents are statements in the grant application that talk about track and bridge improvements to the entire Valley Railroad operating line, which extends to southern Middletown. This improved track, the application says, "will enable the Valley Railroad to carry freight over its right of way connecting to both the AMTRAK line to the south and the Providence & Worcester Line to the north."

The application continues, "The company sees this rail corridor as playing a pivotal role in solving solid and liquid waste issues for towns and cities throughout the river valley. Materials such as household waste, construction/demolition materials, bulky waste, sewage waste, commercial freight, commuter passengers, and tourist passengers will likely be carried on the reconstructed line." It might also carry incinerated ash from the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority.

The project would allow freight carriers to reduce distances and "make freight available to operations in the region that are now forced to haul freight by truck on overly burdened highways," the grant states. One rail car, it estimates, can carry as much freight as four trucks.

In his letter to the federal transportation department, Smith says, "Pending a study of the major consequences to our rural towns, I believe that the

applicants should withdraw their proposal."

Robert Bell, president of the railroad company, said this week the company holds a long-term lease on the tracks, but the 22 miles of tracks and right of way actually belong to the state.

"We were asked by DOT to put together a proposal as to the various phases of planned improvements. We are always seeking to add improvements that are an investment for the long term," said Bell.

DOT gave the company a short time line in which to complete the application, Bell said, and parts of the application are "DOT verbiage." He explained, "We are the operators. We lease these tracks from the state. Of course, they are interested in maintaining and upgrading their

infrastructure," but the plans cited in the application "are so far in the future, there isn't even an engineer in place to do this planning work."

Bell said, "We have always worked very hard to maintain good relations with our towns…Over the years as we have done work to upgrade our tracks we have worked closely with Deep River and Chester and I think it's proven to be a good working relationship. Our main concern is the track we are currently operating on."

He added, "We want to assure our neighbors that it is never our intention to run roughshod through the Connecticut River Valley. We are neighbors. We consider the towns our good friends. We like our relationship. We

believe the towns like it and that's how we want to keep it."