After hearing from officials in Licking County, Ohio about the proposed privatization of the Panhandle rail line earlier this month, Muskingum County commissioners heard from the company which wants to purchase the line.
Representatives from Ohio Central Railroad System, which is based in Coshocton, met with commissioners to give them their side of the privatization issue. Officials from the company feel they are in a position to take the rail line and maintain its viability in a way the state cannot.
The 160-mile line runs through Franklin, Licking, Muskingum, Coshocton, Tuscarawas, Harrison and Jefferson counties. The state acquired the line in the early 1990s and began a process of restoring it.
Since the state took it over, Ohio Central Railroad System has been managing it.
"One of problems we have now is there are major capital improvements that will be needed down the line," said Michael Connor, Ohio Central Railroad System vice president.
Those projects, including fixing the bridge at Tyndall and the Gould Tunnel near Steubenville, will cost millions of dollars. Connor said the state doesn't have the money to pour into these projects, and his company cannot get financial backing unless they own the line.
"We can make it stronger," said Marty Pohold, Ohio Central marketing director.
He said the economic impact of strong rail line can be seen throughout this area with companies like AK Steel, AEP and Coshocton Grain, all of which use the rail lines.
The Ohio Rail Development Commission, which oversees the railroads, is working on an appraisal of the line to see what the price would be to sell it to Ohio Central Railroad System. William A. Strawn II, Ohio Central Railroad System president, said in a best-case scenario the company would be able to acquire the line in the late fourth quarter of this year.
Strawn assured the commissioners that if the sale goes through, there would be provision built into the sale to maintain the viability of the line.
Commissioner Don Madden said he would like to get more information and talk with the other commissioners before they make a decision on which side to support.
