Regarding the June 12 letter to the editor concerning the terrible condition of the railroad crossing at the foot of Frost Street off Congress and Capisic streets, I couldn’t agree more.

I travel this street at least twice a day during the week and have noticed its steady decline over the last few years, including a washout a few years back. On my way to work this morning, I inspected the state of the rails and noticed that while the sides exhibited rust, the rail surface itself was shiny. This would indicate that the line is still in use today, albeit rarely.

I’ve not seen any rail traffic of late. However, unless Pan Am Railways has abandoned the spur, they are liable for the maintenance and upkeep of the line and right of way. It seems that somebody at Pan Am is lying when they say it’s not their responsibility.

I say this because I have actually witnessed the Pan Am service crews working the area in the past, both at the crossing there and the one adjacent on outer Congress Street.

Pan Am purchased the struggling Guilford Transportation Industries and Maine Central Railroad and their 1,500 miles of track for pennies on the dollar. They have reaped enormous benefits from the track modernization and upgrades for the Downeaster service at little cost to them.

The solution to this would be for the state or the city of Portland to repair the crossing and then back charge Pan Am for the work. This is a case of a corporate scofflaw and we shouldn’t allow, in their own words, “a profitable company” to ignore their responsibility to maintain all 1,500 miles of the rail and right of way they own.

Randy Wakefield

Portland