NORTH COAST RAILROAD AUTHORITY

419 Talmage Road Suite M

Ukiah, Ca 95482

707 463-3280 Phone

707-463-3282 Fax

Mitch Stogner, Executive Director Allan Hemphill

ncra.mstogner@sbcglobal.net vinguru@comcast.net

CTC APPROVES NCRA FUNDING

Ukiah - April 27, 2006 – The California Transportation Commission (CTC) today approved $7.8 million in funding for the North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA).

The funds, which are designated for NCRA under the state’s Traffic Congestion Relief Program (TCRP), will be used to begin repairing culverts, bridges, levees, and crossings along the NCRA’s 316 mile publicly-owned right-of-way, which extends from Eureka to Novato along highway 101 and eastward to Lombard.

Today’s CTC approval at its meeting in Fresno comes on the heels of an April 21 letter from CTC Executive Director, John Barna to NCRA which says in part: “It is in the best interest of NCRA and CTC and the State to see that the railroad asset that you manage be maintained and that a viable rail operation be established as soon as possible. To that end, we concur with NCRA’s short-term strategic objective of establishing an operating segment along the southern end of the line to Windsor by the end of 2007. In our view achieving this objective is of paramount importance.”

“This signals the beginning of the restoration work on the South-End which will lead to the return of rail service in phases,” said NCRA Chair Allan Hemphill.

“The state is now clearly an active partner in the effort to bring trains back to the Northwestern Pacific (NWP) line,” he said.

NCRA Director and Humboldt County Supervisor John Woolley emphasized that “this is the first step in an overall plan to bring rail all the way North to the Port of Humboldt Bay.”

“The work will start on the southern end, but we all agree that the success of this line is ultimately dependent on a rail connection to the Port,” said Mendocino County Supervisor Hal Wagenet also a member of the NCRA Board.

Woolley said “the CTC’s support was driven by a lot of hard work and advocacy by State Senator Wes Chesbro,” a leading proponent of North Coast rail service.

Woolley commended the CTC for “partnering with us on a project that makes economic sense, environmental sense and saves energy.”

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The North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA) was formed in 1989 by the California Legislature under the North Coast Railroad Authority Act, Government Code Section 93000, et seq. The mission of the North Coast Railroad Authority is to provide a unified & revitalized rail infrastructure meeting the freight and passenger needs of the region; a first class service working in partnership with others to build and sustain the economy of the region.