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Rotary boards train of progress |
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Monday, 26 October 2009 |
By Davida Hill-Beckum
Daily Times Leader
West Point Rotary Club members received an update from Cynthia Wilson, executive director of Webster County Development Council, regarding the re-establishment of the 92-mile track of railroad linking the Delta to southeast Mississippi.
Columbus and Greenville Railroad was built in the late 1800s to ship cotton and other agricultural products out of the Delta to points in the Southeast. Most of the line was abandoned in April 2001 because costly repairs were needed for the 156 bridges and deteriorating track throughout the line's six counties — Leflore, Carroll, Montgomery, Webster, Oktibbeha and Clay.
“Luckily, the tracks running from Clay County to Leflore County were never abandoned,” Wilson said.
In 2005, these counties made the decision to come together to see what could be done to re-establish the tracks.”
Wilson said the decision was made in response to escalating fuel prices.
After meeting with other economic developers in the counties and officials with the railroad, Wilson said it became apparent that the best option could be to refurbish the line.
“I really expected a major challenge when I attended the public in Carroll County,” Wilson said. “When I got there, 22 of the 23 people who originally opposed re-establishing the tracks where now in favor of adopting the resolution to get C&G back up and running. It was a big surprise.”
After Genesee and Wyoming, a rail company which owns 63 rail tracks in the United States, as well as dozens of rail tracks internationally, backed the re-establishing of the rails, things began to move into high gear. Washington and Sunflower Counties came on board; North Central Mississippi Regional Rail Road Authority was formed and their board of 50-plus members begin to meet to locate financial backing for the project. Members of the board include Selectman Homer Cannon, Ward 2 and Pat Quinn.
“We were really excited when received support from Genesee and Wyoming,” Wilson, who serves as chairman for the NCMRRRA board, said. “They have deeper pockets than we do and more clout in the rail industry.”
According to Wilson, NCMRRA will take ownership of the 92 miles of rail currently laid. The rail will be sold as scrap metal, with the proceeds from the sale going back into the project.
“It costs right at $6 million to lay one mile of rail, Wilson said, “so those funds will come in handy.”
The NCMRRA previously received a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission for $40 million. Those funds were used to perform an exploratory study of revamping the railway.
In February of this year, the House of Representatives approved House Bill 1713, allowing $14 million to renovate the rail line.
After opposition in the Senate, the bill was represented by the Transportation Committee. The bill passed allowing $12-14 million to be placed in the Railroad Revitalization Fund.
According to Wilson, rail transport is considered an advantage many times when an industry is looking to locate in an area.
“If you don't have rails a lot of time the city isn't even on the radar,” Wilson said.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 27 October 2009 )
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