2011-4105. BNSF Railway Company-Temporary Trackage Rights Exemption-Union Pacific Railroad Company

Pursuant to a written trackage rights agreement dated January 25, 2011, Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) has agreed to grant local trackage rights to BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) over UP lines extending between: (1) UP milepost 93.2 at Stockton, Cal., on UP's Oakland Subdivision, and UP milepost 219.4 at Elsey, Cal., on UP's Canyon Subdivision, a distance of approximately 126.2 miles; and (2) UP milepost 219.4 at Elsey, Cal., and UP milepost 280.7 at Keddie, Cal., on UP's Canyon Subdivision, a distance of 61.3 miles.^[1]

The transaction is scheduled to be consummated on or after March 10, 2011, the effective date of the exemption (30 days after the exemption is filed).

The trackage rights agreement will permit BNSF to move empty and loaded ballast trains to and from the ballast pit at Elsey, Cal., which is adjacent to the UP rail line. The trackage rights are temporary in nature and are scheduled to expire at midnight on December 10, 2011.

As a condition to this exemption, any employees affected by the trackage rights will be protected by the conditions imposed in Norfolk and Western Railway—Trackage Rights—Burlington Northern, Inc., 354 I.C.C. 605 (1978), as modified in Mendocino Coast Railway—Lease and Operate—California Western Railroad, 360 I.C.C. 653 (1980).

This notice is filed under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(7). 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 effectiveness of the exemption. Stay petitions must be filed by March 3, 2011 (at least 7 days before the exemption becomes effective).

An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 35466, must be filed with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, a copy of each pleading must be served on Karl Morell, Of Counsel, Ball Janik LLP, Suite 225, 1455 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005.

Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov.

Decided: February 17, 2011.

By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of Proceedings.

Jeffrey Herzig,

Clearance Clerk.

Footnotes

1.  BNSF states that the trackage rights being granted here are only temporary rights, but, because they are “local” rather than “overhead” rights, they do not qualify for the Board's class exemption for temporary trackage rights at 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(8). See R.R. Consolidation Procedures, 6 S.T.B. 910 (2003). Therefore, BNSF concurrently has filed a petition for partial revocation of this exemption in Docket No. FD 35466 (Sub-No. 1), BNSF Railway Company—Temporary Trackage Rights Exemption—Union Pacific Railroad Company, wherein BNSF requests that the Board permit the proposed local trackage rights arrangement described in the present proceeding to expire at midnight on December 10, 2011, as provided in the parties' agreement. The petition will be addressed by the Board in a separate decision.