FOR RELEASE
Contact: Janie Sheng (202) 245-0221
11/20/2008 (Thursday)
No. 08-39


FedRelay 1 (800) 877-8339
www.stb.gov
SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD SETS PURCHASE PRICE OF COOS BAY RAIL LINE


The Surface Transportation Board announced today that it has established $16,605,987 as the purchase price of the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad Inc.’s (CORP) 111-mile railroad line, running from Danebo to Cordes, Oregon. In a prior decision, the Board had ordered CORP to sell the line to the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay (the Port). The Board-established figure is approximately $2.9 million less than the $19.5 million that the Port testified it had available for the Line’s purchase. The Port must decide by December 1, 2008, whether to accept the terms of sale established by the Board’s decision. If the Port accepts the terms, the Port and CORP are directed to close the transaction by February 18, 2009.


Regarding today’s decision, Board Chairman Charles D. Nottingham said,

“Today’s decision marks a significant milestone in the Board’s efforts to reopen the Coos Bay Line. The shippers along this corridor are now one step closer to the resumption of much-needed rail service.”


The Board set the Line’s price in a decision issued today, November 20, 2008, entitled Oregon International Port of Coos Bay—Feeder Line Application—Coos Bay Line of the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, Inc., STB Finance Docket No. 35160. That decision is available for viewing and downloading via the Board's Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov, under “E-LIBRARY,” then under “Decisions & Notices,” beneath the date “11/20/08.”


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