Iowa Northern seeks state funds for repairs

DES MOINES - Add the Iowa Northern Railway to entities looking to be included in a $750 million bonding plan under consideration by the Iowa Legislature.

Josh Sabin of the Iowa Northern, which operates a 163-mile line from Cedar Rapids to northern Iowa, urged legislators to include Iowa-based railroads in Gov. Chet Culver's state economic stimulus plan.

The Iowa Northern has been hamstrung since June by the loss of two bridges on the Cedar Rapids to Manly route - the CRANDIC bridge across the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids and a Union Pacific bridge in Waterloo. The loss of the Waterloo bridge cuts the line in half and forces the Iowa Northern to detour shipments of grain, ethanol and farm machinery 250 to 300 miles, Sabin said. The line was completely shutdown for 14 days by the flooding.

The company is facing additional costs of as much as $500,000 a week.

""For a family-owned company, that's hard to swallow," he told the Senate Rebuild Iowa Committee. "We don't have deep pockets."

He suggested using at least $15 million of the bonding plan for Iowa-based freight rail infrastructure improvements. Sabin also recommended a sales and use tax credit for railroad flood repairs.

Iowa Northern has spent more than $1 million on flood-related repairs and its share of rebuilding the Waterloo bridge could run as high as $3 million, he said. The Army Corps of Engineers has estimated the bridge may be closed until October. The CRANDIC bridge may be open as soon as July, Sabin said.