[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 1, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46507-46508]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-23455]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
[STB Finance Docket No. 33646]
Twin Cities & Western Railroad Co.--Relocation Exemption--
Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority and The Burlington Northern
and Santa Fe Railway Company
On August 3, 1998, Twin Cities & Western Railroad Co. (TCW), filed
a notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(5) to relocate certain
overhead trackage rights in Hennepin County, MN. The transaction was
expected to be consummated on or after August 10, 1998.
In 1991, as part of the purchase of its lines from Soo Line
Railroad Company, doing business as Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), TCW
was granted incidental trackage rights over the Merriam Park Line,
extending from the eastern terminus of TCW's line at Tower E-14 near
Hopkins, MN (milepost 435.06), to milepost 416.43, and operating rights
beyond to the St. Paul Yard, where it interchanges with CPR pursuant to
an interchange agreement. The Merriam Park Line was purchased by the
Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority (HCRRA) pursuant to a
Purchase Agreement dated December 23, 1992. As part of the Purchase
Agreement, CPR and TCW were given a grant-back easement on the Merriam
Park Line for continued rail operations.
The Merriam Park Line includes a portion of the Hiawatha/Cedar
Avenue Wye, from milepost 423.59, near the eastern edge of
Cedar Avenue, to milepost 421.21, near the eastern edge of
Hiawatha Avenue (State Highway 55); the remainder of the wye is from
milepost 423.59 to milepost 423.26. Included in
the Purchase Agreement is the condition that CPR will ultimately
relocate those operations currently moving through the wye track to
enable the Minnesota Department of Transportation to rehabilitate and
upgrade Highway 55 and avoid restoration of two railroad crossings over
a main highway artery to and from downtown Minneapolis. In Soo Line
Railroad Company, d/b/a Canadian Pacific Railway--Abandonment
Exemption--In Hennepin County, MN, STB Docket No. AB-57 (Sub-No. 40X)
(STB served June 26, 1998), CPR was granted an exemption under 49
U.S.C. 10502 from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 10903 to
discontinue service over but not abandon the 1-mile wye until after TCW
obtains approval or an exemption to discontinue its trackage rights and
CPR informs any party requesting a public use condition or a NITU if
and when those trackage rights are discontinued.
In TCW's Trackage Rights Agreement with CPR, dated July 26, 1991,
there is a stipulation that if operations over the Merriam Park Line
are interrupted, CPR will provide an alternate route over the
Kenilworth Route, which is a line that extends between Hopkins and
Cedar Lake/Minneapolis, MN. The Kenilworth Route is also owned by the
HCRRA. CPR and TCW have existing trackage rights over the Kenilworth
Route, which had been out-of-service and in disrepair. HCRRA has
rehabilitated the Kenilworth Route and by this notice of exemption, CPR
and TCW are relocating their overhead operations using the Kenilworth
Route and their existing trackage rights over a line of The Burlington
Northern and Santa Fe Railroad Company, between Minneapolis and St.
Paul, MN, to reach the St. Paul Yard.
Incidental to the relocation, TCW is also discontinuing its
trackage rights over the portion of the Merriam Park Line extending
from milepost 428.0 to milepost 416.43. The transaction will simplify
rail operations. TCW states that, because it operates only overhead
trackage rights over the Merriam Park Line, no shippers will be
affected by the relocation, and, thus, separate approval or an
exemption is not required for the discontinuance of trackage rights.
The Board will exercise jurisdiction over the abandonment or
construction components of a relocation project, and require separate
approval or exemption, only where the removal of track affects service
to shippers or the construction of new track involves expansion into
new territory. See City of Detroit v. Canadian National Ry. Co., et
al., 9 I.C.C.2d 1208 (1993), aff'd sub nom., Detroit/Wayne County Port
Authority v. ICC, 59 F.3d 1314 (D.C. Cir. 1995). 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 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 this exemption, any employees affected by the
trackage rights will be protected by the conditions imposed 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).
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 STB Finance
Docket No. 33646, must be filed with the Surface Transportation Board,
Office of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925 K Street, N.W.,
Washington, DC 20423-
[[Page 46508]]
0001. In addition, a copy of each pleading must be served on Jo A.
DeRoche, Weiner, Brodsky, Sidman & Kider, P.C., 1350 New York Ave.,
N.W., Suite 800, Washington, DC 20005-4797.
Board decisions and notices are available on our website at
``WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.''
Decided: August 25, 1998.
By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-23455 Filed 8-31-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-00-P
