Freight Trains Roll Closer to Rohnert Park

Freight train service in Sonoma County is scheduled to return for the first time in 10 years this afternoon. The California Highway Patrol said a freight train loaded with grain will travel on the Northwestern Pacific Railroad line between
Schellville and Petaluma at 1:30 p.m.

The train will be moving slowly through the area, but the CHP is reminding motorists to obey railroad crossing arms, bells and lights.

Motorists will be cited if they cross the tracks while the crossing arms are active, and pedestrians are reminded to stay off the tracks, the CHP said.

The 62-mile rail line between Windsor and Napa County has been closed for 10 years while the North Coast Railroad Authority repaired storm damage.

The trains got clearance to start rolling this week from Windsor to Napa, as the North Coast Railroad Authority, or the NCRA, announced they've cleared all the hurdles necessary to restart – save the approval of the Novato City Council.

On June 15, the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit approved an agreement to share the track with NCRA between Novato and Windsor.

And according to a news release from the NCRA, chairman Hal Wagenet said that NCRA and NWP Co., the private short haul rail operator that NCRC will lease the track to, have agreed to all of Novato’s requested changes to the 2008 Novato lawsuit settlement, and is confident that the Novato City Council will do the same.

The Novato City Council is expected to consider the agreement at its next meeting, June 28. If they approve, said Wegenet, “We will launch commercial freight service on the historic Northwestern Pacific Railroad Co. (NWP) tracks between Napa, Marin and Sonoma Counties.”

Wagenet made the announcement following NCRA’s June 20 approval of its Environmental Impact Report (EIR); approval of its joint operating agreement with the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit District (SMART) governing use of the shared rail corridor; and approval of an agreement with Novato to install “quiet zones” and run trains slowly through Novato’s downtown.

The news release reiterated its earlier statements that NCRA has invested over $60 million since 2007 to repair 56 crossing signals, replace 50,000 crossties and 23 tons of ballast, shore up levees near Schellville (Sonoma County), and repair 43 trestles and rail bridges between Windsor and the connection with the Union Pacific rail system south of Napa (Napa Junction/Lombard).

John Williams of the NWP Co. has said he intends to operate three round-trips per week hauling feed grains, wood products, building materials, wine and other general merchandise during the start-up phase between Napa and Windsor.

Are you excited to see rail service in Rohnert Park? 

-Bay City News contributed to this report.