Grenada Railway ends abandonment plans

Grenada, Miss. (November 10, 2011) – The Grenada County Economic Development District reported today that Grenada Railway LLC has dropped plans to abandon 83 miles of track from South Grenada to Canton.

On September 20th of this year, Grenada Railway LLC filed a petition to the Surface Transportation Board to be exempt from the full abandonment process, which would have shorten the timing process to remove the line from more than a year to only 110 days. Should the petition have been approved, it would have been very realistic to expect that the rail line would have been gone before February of 2012.

When it was known that Grenada Railway had intentions to abandon the southern portion of the line, all economic development representatives affected by the potential closing came together on a series of meetings to identify a way to slow down the abandonment process to gain time for the creation of a regional railroad authority and /or to allow other private operators to purchase the railroad.

Pablo Diaz, Executive Director of the Grenada EDD said, “Economic developers and community leaders from Grenada, Desoto, Tate, Panola, Yalobusha, Washington and Attala counties first came together to strategize about ways to address this very important issue. We decided to form a coalition that would fight to give communities and employers in the region a voice in the process and to firmly oppose the closing of the railroad. The Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Department of Transportation were key supporters on this effort as well as our state and federal elected officials who understood the short and long term effects the closing would have had in the region and reacted quickly to oppose the petition. We should be very proud for the way our elected officials, community leaders and residents pulled together for the good of the community.”

Diaz continued, “These are very good news for our region. Many jobs in the area already depend on this railroad and losing it would have created a huge competitive disadvantage for economic development efforts in the region. I know our communities are committed to work very hard to attract new companies and new rail users and we look forward to having Grenada Railway as a partner to make that common goal happen.”

Wade Taylor, General Manager of Resolute Forrest products (Formerly Abitibi Bowater) and one of Grenada Railway largest customers commented, “We are pleased with the decision of Grenada Railway LLC to withdraw their application to abandon a section of the line that serves as the only access to rail transportation for many of the industries in our area. Our paper mill in Grenada likewise depends heavily on moving our products out to customers by railcar in a dependable and timely fashion, including the portion proposed for abandonment. Without this option, it is very difficult to remain competitive and serve the needs of our customers. We look forward to working with the GRYR in the immediate future to resolve issues that we experienced recently with delivery of rail cars and timely service.”

In October of 2011, the Grenada County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution to participate in a regional railroad authority with other counties that would have been affected by the potential closing of the line. As part of that effort, supervisors Michael Lott, Chad Bridges and Darrell Robinson were designated to become representatives for this issue along with Pablo Diaz of the EDD and Joe Marascalco. In recent days, Diaz and Supervisors Lott and Bridges traveled to Washington D.C. to foster further opposition efforts from the Mississippi Congressional Delegation. Michael Lott expressed his impressions about their work in Washington D.C., “The opposition effort was well coordinated and strong. We visited with all Mississippi congressional representatives with a stake on the issue and all of them strongly supported the effort. I think the decision by Grenada Railway to withdraw their petition for abandonment is a testament to the strong support we had from the federal to the local level.”

Chad Bridges added, “Our visit to Washington was very important because we needed to make sure that our congressional leaders heard the pledges from our community, and so they did. All of them showed a true commitment to the cause and their letters and communications to the Surface Transportation Board demonstrate it. I know Grenada and all other communities on the line appreciate their support as we do.”

Given that Grenada Railway has abandoned their plans to close the rail line, the public hearing scheduled for Nov. 16th in Winona has been cancelled.

The Grenada County Economic Development District (the EDD) is the official economic development entity for Grenada County and an MDA partner. Pablo Diaz is Executive Director of the Grenada County Economic Development District.

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