Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., and state Sen. Joanne Verger, D-Coos Bay, are right to question last week's abrupt closure of the Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad's 120-mile short line between Coquille and Eugene.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., and state Sen. Joanne Verger, D-Coos Bay, are right to question last week's abrupt closure of the Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad's 120-mile short line between Coquille and Eugene.

The closure of the only rail line connecting the two communities appears highly suspicious. As The Register-Guard's Winston Ross reported Friday, the railroad company, commonly referred to as CORP, gave its customers just a day's notice before announcing an "embargo" on the line last week. The company said it could not afford the $7 million required to upgrade unsafe tunnels along the route and that even with government assistance there is no way the line can be safely be reopened in the near future.

If the line is in such bad shape, the railroad company should have sounded the alarm as soon as it became aware of the situation. Its failure to do so raises the possibility that the company is shutting down the line without notice for business rather than safety reasons.

Federal law bars companies from closing rail lines without notice for business reasons. Such closures require companies to follow a detailed legal process known as "abandonment," during which time railroads must continue operating lines targeted for closure.

The company's explanation seems even more dubious in light of its refusal to document the existence of an immediate safety crisis that might provide legal justification for an emergency shutdown. A government inspection of the line last fall noted that one of the tunnels was in "poor condition," but the situation was not serious enough to prompt federal action.

CORP officials say they plan to seek a "public-private" partnership to make eventual repairs. But it's unclear how serious they are, especially given the company's statements that the line doesn't have enough traffic to justify a major expenditure.

It's also questionable how much business traffic will be left if the rail closure is allowed to continue. At least three major employers on the coast who depend on the line say they may be unable to remain open without the rail link. Georgia-Pacific, which ships nearly two-thirds of its wholesale building products by rail, closed its Coos Bay sawmill Monday and laid off 120 employees. Meanwhile, Roseburg Forest Products says the line closure will force it to spend up to $5,000 more per day in trucking costs. And Southport Forest Products has stopped taking orders from distant locations and says the rail shutdown threatens the company's very survival.

There appears to be frustratingly little that anyone can do to remedy this situation. Verger has demanded that CORP provide written justification for the shutdown, but it's unclear whether the company has any legal obligation to do so. DeFazio has asked the Federal Railroad Administration to look into the matter, but the agency has dismayingly little control over private railroads, which have primary responsibility for inspecting and maintaining their own tracks, tunnels and bridges. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., has proposed amending the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act to bolster federal inspections and reviews, but the legislation would have no effect on the short line closure.

The most promising option may be the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay's plans to sue the railroad for breaching contracts with the port that require notice before service is interrupted. That could force CORP to either justify the closure or to resume rail operations while it pursues either the abandonment process or the public dollars needed to make repairs.

The short line shutdown is symptomatic of a larger national rail infrastructure crisis that is the result of inadequate government regulation and public and private investment. The closure of a single 120-mile stretch on the Oregon Coast graphically illustrates the price that communities and businesses across the nation will pay if that neglect continues.