RailNews

Reprieve for Catskill Mountain

When the last trains departed from Phoenicia and Kingston, N.Y., on May 30, everyone assumed it was the end of the line for New York State’s Catskill Mountain Railroad. A three-year legal battle with landlord Ulster County was settled out of court and punctuated by the official end of the railroad’s 25-year lease of the 38-mile corridor on May 31.

In March, the county put out a request for proposals to find new operators for the two isolated railroad segments. The clock began winding down on the  60-day grace period allowed for CMRR to relocate its equipment off county-owned rails. Meanwhile, a grassroots campaign organized by citizens and local businesses rallied for the return of the popular train rides in any form.

On June 17, the county announced CMRR would be allowed to resume operations on the Kingston segment through the end of the year, and be eligible to negotiate a new operating agreement every year after. The new agreement extends the operating limits from Kingston to the Route 28A crossing in the Town of Ulster. The railroad was also granted access to the Phoenicia segment through the end of October 2016, after which itwill be operated by Rail Explorers USA. Building on their popular pedal-bike operation on the out-of-service portions of the Adirondack Scenic Railroad, Rail Explorers will replace CMRR trains in Phoenicia. According to railroad officials, train service in Kingston and Phoenicia is expected to resume on August 1.

—Passenger Train Journal

This article was posted on: June 18, 2016