As Yogi Berra would say, it’s deja vu all over again.
Back in 2005, the City of Peoria got Pioneer Industrial Railway removed from the Kellar Branch and replaced with Central Illinois Railroad Company (CIRY) through a legal process known as an “adverse discontinuance request” they filed with the Surface Transportation Board (STB). But since that time, the City and CIRY have never fulfilled their promises to provide comparable service (or any service for a six-month period) via the Kellar Branch or the Western Connection. Carver Lumber, which initially did not object to the replacement carrier, has petitioned the STB to have Pioneer restored as the carrier. Thus, the proceeding has been reopened, taking us all back to where we were in 2005. That means the STB’s decision could be reversed and Pioneer could be restored as the carrier on the line.
The reason the city wants CIRY is because they want a carrier that will cooperate with their plans to turn the Kellar Branch into a recreational trail. While Pioneer is willing to cooperate with the building of a trail, they wouldn’t agree to removing the rail line because it would cheat Carver Lumber out of competitive rail service. Neither CIRY nor the city have any reservations about screwing Carver Lumber, despite Carver’s 60-year history of local ownership in Peoria.
The STB ordered all parties “to supplement the existing record by submitting additional evidence to the Board regarding the relative benefits and burdens that continuation of [Pioneer’s] service on the Kellar Branch, on the one hand, and the cessation of [Pioneer’s] service on the other, would have on the involved carrier [Pioneer], on the owner-lessor of the line [Peoria and Peoria Heights], and on the public [Carver Lumber, interstate commerce, local residents, etc.].”
The City of Peoria, the Village of Peoria Heights, and CIRY all filed their comments on February 22 and 23. Carver Lumber and Pioneer filed their comments on March 15. Here’s a quick summary of what they had to say: