[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 220 (Wednesday, November 16, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-28195]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: November 16, 1994]
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INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION
[Finance Docket No. 32598]
Illinois Central Railroad Company and New Orleans Public Belt
Railroad--Joint Relocation Project Exemption--In New Orleans, LA
On October 17, 1994, Illinois Central Railroad Company (IC) and New
Orleans Public Belt Railroad (NOPB) jointly filed a notice of exemption
under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(5) to relocate lines of railroad in New Orleans,
LA. The joint relocation project is an integral component of the
Tchoupitoulas Corridor Project (TCP), a major public works program
between state and local governmental agencies, to relieve traffic
congestion and to improve access to New Orleans' port facilities.
Consummation has been scheduled to take place no earlier than October
24, 1994.
IC is a class I railroad, operating approximately 2,600 miles of
rail line in six midwestern states, and NOPB is a class III terminal
switching railroad owned by the City of New Orleans. NOPB operates
approximately 25 miles of rail line in and around New Orleans.
Within the City of New Orleans, IC and NOPB own and operate
adjacent parallel mainlines lying in the city-owned Leake Avenue right-
of-way, which is not used as a street or roadway in the project area
(Leake Avenue ROW). Part of the TCP involves the reconfiguration of
railroad tracks and operations on the Leake Ave ROW.1 IC and NOPB
will exchange ownership of certain tracks in the Leake Avenue ROW
between Octavia and Jena Streets.
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\1\Neither IC nor NOPB owns any of the right-of-way underlying
the Leake Avenue trackage. IC and NOPB each possess servitudes from
the City of New Orleans to locate and operate rail lines on the
Leake Avenue ROW. City officials are in the process of amending city
ordinances granting those servitudes to accommodate the
rearrangement of IC and NOPB lines and trackage.
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Under the joint project, IC and NOPB propose the following
transactions: (1) IC will acquire NOPB's line of railroad along the
northern edge of the Leake Avenue ROW between approximately Octavia
Street and Valence Street, a distance of approximately .78 miles; (2)
NOPB will acquire IC's parallel double track line to the south of the
aforementioned line between approximately Octavia Street and Jena
Street, a distance of approximately .86 miles; (3) IC will grant NOPB
trackage rights over IC's new mainline between a point near Valence
Street (station 175+68.09) and the connection with NOPB's locomotive
maintenance facility lead track near Upperline Street, including head
room (station 163+80), a distance of approximately .23 miles; (4) NOPB
will grant IC trackage rights over NOPB's existing River Main between
the end of IC's track near Valence Street (station 175+68.09) and the
connection with new IC yard lead tracks (station 182+02.44), a distance
of approximately .12 miles, and over NOPB's existing parallel City Main
between the end of IC's track near Valence Street (station 175+68.09)
and the connection with the western Hayes Dockside Warehouse lead
track, including head room (station 214+60), a distance of
approximately .74 miles; (5) IC will abandon and remove its spur track
between station 240+00 and the connection with the eastern Hayes
Dockside Warehouse lead track (station 232+37), a distance of
approximately .14 miles; and (6) IC and NOPB will perform such
incidental construction and relocation of trackage at various locations
along the Leake Avenue ROW as necessary to complete the proposed
reconfiguration of tracks contemplated under the TCP.
This transaction will simplify rail operations through the affected
area and accommodate the goals of the TCP. No shippers will be
adversely affected by this relocation or lose access to any rail
service currently provided by IC or NOPB.
The Commission will exercise jurisdiction over the abandonment or
construction components of a relocation project, and require separate
approval or exemption, only where the proposal involves, for example, a
change in service to shippers, expansion into new territory, or a
change in existing competitive situations. See, generally, Denver &
R.G.W.R. Co.--Jt. Proj.--Relocation Over BN, 4 I.C.C.2d 95 (1987). The
Commission has determined that line relocation projects may embrace
trackage rights transactions such as the one involved here. See
D.T.&I.R.--Trackage Rights, 363 I.C.C. 878 (1981). Under these
standards, the embraced incidental abandonment, construction, and
trackage rights components require no separate approval or exemption
when the relocation project, as here, will not disrupt service to
shippers and thus qualifies for the class exemption at 49 CFR
1180.2(d)(5).
As a condition to the use of this exemption, any employees affected
by the trackage rights agreement will be protected by the conditions in
Norfolk and Western Ry. Co.--Trackage Rights--BN, 354 I.C.C. 605
(1978), as modified in Mendocino Coast Ry., Inc.--Lease and Operate,
360 I.C.C. 653 (1980).
Petitions to revoke the exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10505(d) may be
filed at any time. The filing of a petition to revoke will not stay the
transaction. Pleadings must be filed with the Commission and served on:
William C. Sippel, Two Prudential Plaza, 45th Floor, 180 North Stetson
Ave., Chicago, IL 60601 and Raymond J. Salassi, Jr., 202 St. Charles
Ave., 50th Floor, New Orleans, LA 70170-5100.
Decided: October 25, 1994.
By the Commission, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 94-28195 Filed 11-15-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7035-01-P
