the company to deal directly with Canadian National Railway after years of problems with what it described as "MMA's exorbitant pricing structure, ineffective service, and annoying executives." MMA was charging more to haul rail cars from Madawaska, ME to the interchange point with CN at St. Leonard, NB than CN demanded to carry this freight onward to Montreal, Quebec. MMA's service and business practices had been subject to ongoing complaints from Fraser Papers Inc. and its successor Twin Rivers Paper Co. about missed pickup and delivery deadlines as well as poor track maintenance. Upon failing to break free from MMA's local monopoly through legal action, Twin Rivers Paper Co. resorted to transshipment of its entire output across the Canada–United States border to Edmundston, New Brunswick by truck for placement directly on CN trains. 2010 Northern Maine abandonment In early February, 2010, the MMA filed a notice of intent with the Surface Transportation Board that it intended to abandon of track in northern Maine, between Madawaska and Millinocket, part of the original Bangor & Aroostook Railroad's main line bought by MMA in 2003. Many portions of this track were in such poor condition that freight could only safely run at . Affected lines were located in Penobscot County and Aroostook County, Maine, and included track serving Houlton, Presque Isle, Caribou and Fort Kent. MMA lines between Millinocket and Montreal, Brownville and Searsport, and Madawaska to Van Buren were not included in this application. According to MMA, losses from operating the lines had reached the point where they were threatening the financial health of the entire railroad. The STB subsequently postponed action on the request in late April, after the railroad and Maine officials agreed to negotiate to prevent the lines from being abandoned, which the state said could negatively affect the economy of the area. State legislators proposed that the state buy the lines and contract out freight rail service, similar to lines in Vermont. On October 20, 2010, the railroad reached an agreement to sell of track in the northern part of Maine to the state government for $20.1 million; The Surface Transportation Board approved MM&A's abandonment of the tracks on December 28, 2010, allowing the state to purchase them. Maine awarded a state contract to operate the line to J.D. Irving Limited subsidiary Irving Transportation Services on April 5, 2011 and completed $10.5 million worth of federally subsidised repairs