A Maine railroad operator is resuming freight service between Brunswick and Rockland after it was stopped in June of last year in the wake of a Thomaston cement plant closing its manufacturing.
The company, Maine Switching Services, has also proposed reopening a rail corridor between Brunswick and Augusta.
The state Department of Transportation announced in January that Maine Switching Services, based in Unity, would take over operations and maintenance of the Rockland Branch Railroad. That corridor extends between Brunswick and Rockland. On Monday, the company announced that it had finalized the agreement and was commencing the freight service.
The winding down of manufacturing at Dragon Cement in Thomaston, which used the railroad to transport its product, posed a challenge for the operation of both freight and passenger rail services along that corridor. In August of 2023, a passenger rail called the Coastliner Excursion was launched, but it only took trips for a few months before closing.
A subsidiary of Maine Switching Services, The Cumberland & Knox Railroad, on Monday signed the final draft of the lease agreement with Maine DOT for the 56-mile Rockland Branch Railroad.
Dragon Cement, which was recently acquired by Heidelberg Materials, will begin using the freight line again, according to the press release from Maine Switching Services.
However, Heidelberg has not responded to requests for comment about its plans for the site. Before it was sold, Dragon Cement was in the process of shifting from manufacturing to distributing cement once it was shipped to Maine from Europe.
The Cumberland & Knox Railroad will also continue to talk with other former freight customers about expanding services on the railroad, and has an eventual goal of bringing passenger rail back to the corridor, according to the release.
In addition, The Cumberland & Knox Railroad submitted a proposal to Maine DOT to re-establish the Lower Road corridor, which extends between Brunswick and Augusta. This is because the railroad company “recognizes the essential need of the Lower Road to support freight and passenger rail operations on the Rockland Branch,” according to the release.
This comes as state lawmakers votes on LD 29, which would remove the Lower Road to allow for its replacement with bicycle and pedestrian trails.
The Cumberland & Knox Railroad said in the release that it intends to stay in communication with advocates of rail removal on a compromise that would allow both rail and trail usage.
Municipalities along the Lower Road line include Topsham, Bowdoinham, Richmond, Gardiner, Farmingdale and Hallowell.