Latest news on MMA traffic levels?

Any insigfht out there as to latest traffic levels in the County/on the old CP? Things have been quiet... imagine traffic has bounced back at least a small degree.

Not really, they are only running twice a week from Madawaska to Millinocket from what I hear. As further evidence they are going to file the abandonment application with the STB in February.

Tonnage in and out of NMJ seems to be pretty good. They have been running 6 axles down a lot to carry the heavier trains. This is probably due to winter with the railroads moving a lot of salt, equipment, heating oil and sand. Not sure how things are on the Searsport sub but they are still holding on.

If a train is running from Madawaska to Millinocket twice a week, how does the MMA justify its abandonment plans? Granted, it's not much business at this point, but hey, somethin's better than nuthin'.

A general rule of thumb in railroading is that a line needs 100 cars per year per mile to at least break even. With some 300 miles of trackage in question, you're talking 30,000 cars a year. A couple of trains a week certainly won't deliver that. So, that leaves the only possibility of some agency or a consortium of shippers, be it state, local, or a combination thereof determining that rail service is crucial to the region and subsidizing its operation, or purchasing it outright and contracting an operator for the line. While states and other agencies, and/or shippers have stepped up to the plate many times over the years with a host of rail lines in this country, this is one of the worst times to hope they do so. MMA is not the only railroad experiencing these issues, either.

Another factor is that the majority of the carloads are of the low revenue variety - logs, woodchips, heating oil, and even lumber to a lesser extent. Someone else mentioned sand and salt shipments and while I wasn't aware of these being regular commodities handled on that line, they too are low revenue. The bottom line is that at the end of the day, the revenue generated on this line does not pay for the crews, fuel, equipment & ROW maintenance, taxes, etc needed to keep it operational.

The MMA rail lines up for abandonment in Northern Maine are said to lose 5 million per year. Cost 2.5 million per year to maintain, and the land and steel have a salvage value of 17 million. These lines are not economic without substantial subsidy. Unfortunately, losing the rail lines, even with reduced traffic, will be a further blow to the northern Maine economy.

From today's Railway Age...

http://www.railwayage.com/breaking-news ... miles.html