Officials examine implications of NYS&W abandonment

CHENANGO COUNTY – Local officials are looking for the silver lining – and possibly finding just a dark cloud – in light of the permanent de-railment of the New York Susquehanna & Western Railroad, which appears to be imminent.

While one local official says losing the railroad would negatively impact economic development, an area resident and a state representative say keeping it open – which would most likely require state funding – is tough to justify financially and ethically.

The NYS&W has been under fire since last March when it became known the railroad struck a deal with New York Regional Interconnect Inc. – allowing the Albany-based company to erect a portion of its proposed 190-mile-long high voltage power line along tracks from Utica to Woods Corners.

NYRI’s line would run through 44 miles of Chenango County – devastating a swath of the local landscape, weakening the local economy, and endangering the environment and public health, residents argue.

“I’m not insensitive to these issues,” railroad Attorney Nathan Fenno said. “We saw www.evesun.com/topics/news/NYRI/">NYRI as a way to preserve rail service.” The financial specifics of that deal have remained hidden by order from the state Supreme Court.

Now the rail company has reportedly asked state legislators for tax dollars to repair an estimated $400k in flood damage that – combined with a prior lack of business – has halted rail operation from Sherburne to Chenango Forks since June.

Earlville resident Eve Ann Shwartz says giving state money to the railroad in an effort to preserve economic development is a fundamental contradiction.

“He (NYS&W President Walter Rich) is taking NYRI money in one hand, and at the same time he has his hand out to the state,” said Shwartz, who is a co-chair on the citizens group STOP NYRI and also Communities Against Regional Interconnect. “They can’t take tax dollars and NYRI’s money and say ‘to hell with the community.’ It’s totally contradictory.”

There’s currently a strong possibility that the railroad will file with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to abandon the broken stretch in the coming months, but no official date has been set, Attorney Nathan Fenno said Monday. Once filed, the NYS&W will have to prove a financial burden. From there a public needs assessment would occur and, if interested, parties would have an opportunity to formally protest the abandonment. The process could take up to four months to complete, according to the STB.