[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