PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 11, 2023
Our freight railroads need a lot more oversight. The privately owned freight railroads responsible for most of Maine’s train traffic are responsible for policing themselves. This means that, at any given time, the state knows little to nothing about the tracks and what is being transported on them, and is entitled to little to no information. L.D. 1937, which has robust bipartisan support, seeks to reverse the most restrictive elements of the 2015 state public records law that allows the railroads to keep information from the public. This proposal has been met with resistance by the railroads. The more we know, the more we can better regulate the freight tracks and trains running through our communities.