The 10.3-mile section would be removed from service, but not abandoned entirely.
Canadian National spokesman Patrick Waldron says unlike abandonment, discontinuance removes a common carrier obligation. In other words, the rail line and right-of-way would remain, but the railroad would not be operating on the track segment.
Waldron says there has not been a rail customer or shipment across the segment since 2012. If the discontinuance is approved, the railroad would still be able to restore rail service if economic circumstances warranted its return.
For now, the first step in issuing a discontinuance will be for CN to file a public notice and then submit its paperwork to the Surface Transportation Board for approval.
Local residents, including Manawa Mayor John Smith, would rather see the rail line abandoned altogether.
Smith believes the removal of the rail line would open up new commercial opportunities in town and would allow other projects to move forward.
The route in question is part of the former 250-mile Green Bay & Western main line between Green Bay and Winona. It was absorbed into the Wisconsin Central in 1993 and later became part of the Canadian National network.
Why is it that every thread here that has anything to do with abandoning a rail line becomes a vehicle for some of you to spout anti-bike BS? A trail might be a good option for this area-some roadbeds make good trails, others do not. I ride a bike, my wife is handicapped and is able to ride a bike BECAUSE of separated trails, rather than having to attempt to ride on a highway or county road. So go ahead and express our opinions, but do a little research first-there are a lot of us old pharts that pay our taxes and use these trails. Sorry about the rant-I agree with the wrong-headedness of what has been going on in upstate NY, and NIMBY’s in general, but am tired of seeing this propaganda against bike riders every week.
It is typical of what has happened with CN here in Wisconsin. There are no customers since CN jacks the rates up many times the industry average so they go to trucks. CN is not interested in operating any of this branchline traffic and does nothing to encourage it, only discourage it. I have no doubt that a different carrier such as WSOR could generate traffic on this line in short order.
Looking at Manawa, Wi there is one large concern there. And it does not have a rail siding. Looking at GoogleMaps it does have whole lot of truck trailers.
Did CN even try to get the business. Frequently businesses and communities like this are flyover territory. Any wonder why the local community would like to redevelop?
Did the STB/ICC not foresee that letting WC acquire GBW and FRV would mean the end of the GBW?
Jim, do you live in Manawa?
I rather think that the mayor recognizes that the “high paying” (if they ever existed in Manawa in the first place) “industrial jobs made possible by the railroad” haven’ used the line in at least two years, and probably much longer. A quick Google map search shows that the right of way crosses through a couple of parcels of land, adjacent to existing industries, that might be more marketable in one piece.
A trail would be nice (and not for the mythical “granola crunchers”) as it can contribute economically in a way the present trackage is not. Would I rather that the track remain in place? I would rather it remain in use. Heck, I wish he GB&W was still in operation, too. The mayor of Manawa has more realistic problems to deal with.
Interesting that the mayor wants the rail line totally abandoned evidently — not to placate granola crunchers but on the theory that an abandoned rail line is more commercially valuable to a small town than one that can potentially serve customers. It has come to this.
Won’t be surprised if the local granola crunchers will be agitating for a rail trail.
The mayor’s mentality is minimum wage service jobs trump high paying industrial jobs made possible by the railroad. How sad.