NEWS RELEASE
Salem County Board of Chosen Freeholders
94 Market Street. Salem, N.J. 08079
CONTACT: Deborah Turner-Fox, Clerk of the Board/Administrator
February 26, 2004
Railroad Maintenance Continues to be Priority for Salem County
With another break in the Salem County Rail line delaying material delivery to Anchor Glass, Salem County and Southern Railroad have once again been called to action to perform emergency repairs to the light rail line. Repairs to this section of the track are expected to be complete the end of this week. A break in the line has meant re-routing materials via truck routes for the second time in the last three months. Between Christmas and New Years, the rail line had been shut down due to structural problems with the Oldsman’s Trestle. Quick work by Southern Railroad and several contractors over the holidays limited the time the rail was out of service to less than three weeks. "We are very fortunate to have competent personnel in charge of this project to insure that the repairs are performed in a safe and timely manner," stated Chuck Sullivan, Freeholder Director. "We are unfortunately paying the price now for failure to properly maintain this rail line in the past, but have refocused our priorities and redirected our attention to this county asset that is so critical for our local industries."
Just last week, Salem County Officials met with Southern Rail representative, Tom Collard to review the scope of work and priorities for the coming year. This section of the track had been identified as a priority to replace, but on going discussions with South Jersey Gas, who must approve a portion of the project as it runs directly through their property, had delayed this phase of the project.