Last week, the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway announced that it is taking steps to sell or abandon tracks in Northern Maine because they are no longer profitable to maintain. Today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was asked about the state's overall rail potential on a visit to UMaine. Lahood says Maine will  be included in plans to put federal stimulus money toward high-speed passenger rail systems.

Illinois Republican Congressman-turned-U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood says he's aware of Maine's need for a high-speed and passenger railroad system.

"We're spending a lot of time in different regions in the country working with folks on high speed rail and Maine is certainly a part of that," LaHood says. "And we know that people would like to see a connection coming up from Boston all the way up probably to the Canadian border. And so we've been working very hard with folks in this part of the region to do what we can to be helpful."

LaHood, who toured the University of Maine in Orono, says roughly $8 billion in stimulus funds have been set aside for transportation spending nationwide. "We have $8 billion, there are about 13 regions around the country that are very interested in passenger rail. And so Maine will certainly be in the mix and I think they'll be part of the passenger rail service for the northeast corridor."

LaHood says Maine is somewhat unique in its persistance in bringing back passenger rail. "I don't know that there are other rural parts of the country that have taken the interest in rail that perhaps Maine has," he says. "I mean, when you think of the western states or states that are pretty rural, they've put almost all their resources into highways. And they haven't put their resources really into a kind of passenger rail."

While there has been much talk of passenger rail in recent months, it hasn't helped one ailing freight line in northern Maine.  Last week, Bangor-based Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway announced that it might abandon 241-miles of track that run from Millinocket to Madawaska, and several eastward branches, one toward Houlton.

The company says the rail has too many miles of track to maintain, with insufficient revenue from customers such as the forest products industry.

"These are hard economic times and the railroad's been faced with some very touch choices," says Maine's Transportation Commissioner David Cole.  Cole says the state is working to keep the rail line in service.

"We're looking to see if there are any options under the Recovery Act for discretionary rail funding to assist in preserving any of these stretches of railroad," Cole says.  "And we'll continue to reach out as well to those private companies who are impacted by this. I mean we all need to work together."

The Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway reports business is down by as much as 40 percent from the first six months of last year. It has formally begun a process that could lead to the sale of those tracks to a private entity or to the state of Maine. A subsidy arrangement is also being discussed.

U.S. Representative Mike Michaud says the situation is of great concern to him. "Having worked at Great Northern Paper Company for over 28 years, I know how important freight rail is for the state of Maine, for our economy. I can understand the problems that the rail road is having financially and I know that the governor's been working very closely with the railroad and hopefully will be able to come up with some type of solution to hopefully keep the rail line open."

Michaud says even though many mills along the rail line have closed, the line serves as an important resource for future economic development in Northern Maine. If no sale or subsidy agreements can be reached, the company could proceed with the abandonment process before the federal Surface Transportation Board.