New owner of MM&A Railway may emerge soon

Staff Report

    BANGOR — An unidentified company submitted an offer on Jan. 16 to buy the bankrupt Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, according to the Portland Press Herald.
    According to Robert Keach, the railroad’s court-appointed trustee, the railroad was scheduled to be sold at auction on Jan. 21 if enough qualified bids were received.

    However, the winning bidder won’t be announced until Thursday, Jan. 23 when U.S. District Court in Bangor and the Superior Court of Quebec in Sherbrook hold simultaneous proceedings starting at 10 a.m.
    Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway sought bankruptcy protection after one of its trains derailed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec last July, resulting in an explosion and fire that killed 47 people. The environmental clean-up of the crash site is expected to cost about $200 million, according to the Press Herald, but the railroad only carried $25 million in liability insurance at the time of the crash.
    The railroad’s assets include a railroad repair facility in Derby and a rail yard in Brownville Junction.