[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 208 (Friday, October 25, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55357-55358]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-27423]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
[STB Finance Docket No. 33138]
RailAmerica, Inc.--Acquisition of Control Exemption--Otter Tail
Valley Company, Inc.
RailAmerica, Inc. (RailAmerica), a noncarrier, has filed a notice
of exemption to acquire control, through its wholly owned subsidiary
Dakota Rail, Inc., of Otter Tail Valley Railroad Company, Inc.
(OTVR).1 OTVR, a Class III rail carrier, operates solely in
Minnesota.2
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\1\ Dakota seeks to acquire control, through stock purchase, of
OTVR, in a concurrently filed notice of exemption in STB Finance
Docket No. 33133, Dakota Rail, Inc.--Acquisition of Control
Exemption--Otter Tail Valley Railroad Company, Inc.
\2\ OTVR's main line runs from milepost 185.1, near Fergus
Falls, MN, northwest to Barnesville Junction, MN (milepost 218.6 =
0). From Barnesville Junction, milepost 0, the main line runs
northwest to Moorehead, MN, at milepost 21.25. In addition, a branch
line runs from milepost 49.0, at Fergus Falls, west to milepost
61.5, at Foxhome, MN.
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RailAmerica also controls the following eight Class III rail
carriers that do not connect with OTVR: Huron & Eastern Railway
Company, Inc., the Saginaw Valley Railway Company, Inc., the South
Central Tennessee Railroad Company, Dakota, the West Texas & Lubbock
Railroad Company, Inc., the Plainview Terminal Company, Evansville
Terminal Company, Inc., and the Cascade and Columbia River Railroad
Company.3 The effective date of the exemption was October 11,
1996.
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\3\ Common control of these carriers was approved in: John H.
Marino, Eric D. Gerst, and Mariner Corporation--Control Exemption--
Saginaw Valley Railway Company, Inc., Finance Docket No. 31196 (ICC
served Apr. 23, 1991); RailAmerica, Inc.--Control Exemption--South
Central Tennessee Railroad Company, Finance Docket No. 32421 (ICC
served Jan. 18, 1994); RailAmerica, Inc.--Control Exemption--Prairie
Holding Corporation and Dakota Rail, Inc., Finance Docket No. 32750
(ICC served Sept. 25, 1995); RailAmerica, Inc.--Continuance in
Control Exemption--West Texas and Lubbock Railroad Company, Inc. and
Plainview Terminal Company, Finance Docket No. 32797 (ICC served
Dec. 27, 1995); RailAmerica, Inc.--Continuance in Control
Exemption--Evansville Terminal Company, Inc., STB Finance Docket No.
32990 (STB served July 17, 1996); and RailAmerica, Inc.--Continuance
in Control Exemption--Cascade and Columbia River Railroad Company,
STB Finance Docket No. 33048 (STB served Sept. 13, 1996).
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This transaction is related to a notice of exemption filed in STB
Finance Docket No. 33133, Dakota Rail, Inc.--Acquisition of Control
Exemption--Otter Tail Valley Railroad Company, Inc., wherein Dakota
seeks to acquire control, through stock purchase, of OTVR.
RailAmerica states that: (1) OTVR does not connect with any other
railroads in its corporate family; (2) the involved transaction is not
part of a
[[Page 55358]]
series of anticipated transactions that would connect OTVR with any
other railroad in its corporate family; and (3) the transaction does
not involve a Class I carrier. Therefore, the transaction is exempt
from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11323. See 49 CFR
1180.2(d)(2). The purpose of the transaction is to achieve operating
economies and to improve service and financial viability.
Under 49 U.S.C. 10502(g), the Board may not use its exemption
authority to relieve a rail carrier of its statutory obligation to
protect the interests of its employees. Section 11326(c), however, does
not provide for labor protection for transactions under sections 11324
and 11325 that involve only Class III rail carriers. Because this
transaction involves Class III rail carriers only, the Board, under the
statute, may not impose labor protective conditions for this
transaction.
If the notice contains false or misleading information, the
exemption is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the exemption under 49
U.S.C. 10502(d) may be filed at any time. The filing of a petition to
revoke will not automatically stay the transaction.
An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to STB
Finance Docket No. 33138, must be filed with the Surface Transportation
Board, Office of the Secretary, Case Control Branch, 1201 Constitution
Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20423. In addition, one copy of all
pleadings must be served on: Edward D. Greenberg, Canal Square, 1054
Thirty-First Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20007.
Decided: October 17, 1996.
By the Board, Joseph H. Dettmar, Acting Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-27423 Filed 10-24-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-00-P
