CSX Railroad Says It's Not Interested in LaPorte County Intermodal
http://www.wsbt.com/inside/team/reporters/5134271.html
(WSBT) One of the nation's largest railroad companies says it won't build an intermodal rail hub in LaPorte County. CSX Railroad was considered by some to be the most interested company in building the hub, and many are now asking if that means the end for the controversial project.
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Task Force Meets To Discuss LaPorte County Intermodal Plan
The proposed intermodal hub would link dozens of railroad freight lines with storage areas and semi trucks on hundreds of acres surrounding State Road 39 and U.S. 6 near Union Mills.
Ruth Minich's phone rang off the hook Tuesday morning, and every call started off the same way:
"They thanked me for being involved," she said. "And they were excited about it."
"It" is an article in the LaPorte County Herald-Argus newspaper.
The headline?
"One Down." It's a reference to a surprise announcement from rail giant CSX this week.
"[The LaPorte County site] is a private developer's site in which we're not involved," CSX spokesman Garrick Francis told WSBT by phone from the company's Jacksonville, FL headquarters.
Francis says CSX has decided to build an intermodal in Northwest Ohio instead.
It's the first concrete confirmation or denial from any railroad on potential interest in building on the heavily rumored proposed site near Union Mills. And because CSX was considered by some to be the leading rail company interested in the project, some think that means the project is dead in the water.
At first so did Minich. And she would know. She's one member of the county's new 21 member "intermodal task force," set up three months ago by county commissioners. She also owns a 150 year old home on a 160 acre farm near Kingsbury, and an additional 160 acres of farmland square in the heart of the proposed project boundaries near Union Mills.
But after she did some digging, Ruth changed her tune.
"I'm not convinced," she said. "I'm excited, but I'm not saying to anyone that it's over."
And on that county leaders agree.
"[It] changes absolutely nothing," said LaPorte County Commissioner Mike Bohacek, in reference to the CSX announcement.
He says that's due in large part to the fact that most new intermodals across the country, including the closest one to LaPorte County near Joliet, IL aren't being built by railroads at all.
"These facilities are constructed for the most part by private equity firms, with options given to the railroads if they want to purchase," Bohacek said. "For the most part, it's an industrial development."
That's one big reason why signs bearing the slogan "No Intermodal" remain scattered across the landscape near Union Mills. Neighbors say they want to send a message to other companies that they don't want an intermodal, no matter who's building it.
It's a message Ruth Minich says she'll continue pushing until she gets answers and knows her lifelong home is safe.
One of those questions still being asked is, if CSX is out, who might be in?
The logical answers are Canadian National and Norfolk Southern Railroads. Both have lines that run near the area, but not into Union Mills, as CSX does. But so far, county leaders say neither has contacted them about making a proposal. But that doesn't mean they haven't contacted the developer who owns options on that land, Cressy and Everett Real Estate.
Intermodal task force chairman Dave Christian tells WSBT that he still expects to see a proposal from the developer for that land sometime in January.
