[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 166 (Friday, August 27, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 46968]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-22340]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board
[STB Finance Docket Nos. 33788 and 33789]


Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Trackage Rights Exemption--Over 
North Carolina Railroad Company; Atlantic and East Carolina Railway 
Company--Trackage Rights Exemption--Line of North Carolina Railroad 
Company Operated Under Trackage Rights by Norfolk Southern Railway 
Company

    In STB Finance Docket No. 33788, North Carolina Railroad Company 
(NCRR) has agreed to grant to Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR) 
exclusive local and overhead freight trackage rights over its entire 
line of railroad between Charlotte and Morehead City, NC.\1\ The line 
extends between mileposts EC-0.0 and EC-94.7; 
mileposts H-0.0 and H-129.5; and mileposts 
284.0 and 376.5, a distance of approximately 
317.2 miles in Alamance, Cabarrus, Carteret, Craven, Davidson, Durham, 
Guilford, Johnston, Jones, Lenoir, Mecklenburg, Orange, Randolph, 
Rowan, Wake, and Wayne Counties, NC.
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    \1\ NSR is permitted to continue in effect existing and certain 
future agreements pertaining to passenger operations by the National 
Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) over the line. The Board's 
jurisdiction is not implicated as to this provision of the 
agreement.
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    Under the agreement, NSR is permitted to grant trackage rights to 
its subsidiaries. Accordingly, in STB Finance Docket No. 33789, NSR has 
agreed to grant to its wholly owned subsidiary, Atlantic and East 
Carolina Railway Company (AECR), local and overhead trackage rights 
over a portion of NCRR's line between Goldsboro, NC, and Morehead City. 
That portion extends between mileposts EC-0.0 and EC-
94.7, a distance of approximately 94.7 miles in Carteret, 
Craven, Jones, Lenoir, and Wayne Counties.
    The exemption was effective on August 19, 1999, and the trackage 
rights operations are scheduled to begin on September 1, 1999.
    The purpose of the trackage rights is to allow NSR and AECR to 
continue as the providers of local and overhead freight service on the 
NCRR lines, as they have previously done under now-expired leases.\2\
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    \2\ See North Carolina Railroad Company--Petition to Set 
Trackage Compensation and Other Terms and Conditions--Norfolk 
Southern Railway Company, Norfolk & Western Railway Company, and 
Atlantic and East Carolina Railway Company, STB Finance Docket No. 
33134 (STB served May 29, 1997) (NCRR Compensation).
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    As a condition to these exemptions, 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).
    These notices are filed under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(7). If either 
contains false or misleading information, both exemptions are void ab 
initio. Petitions to revoke the exemptions 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.\3\
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    \3\ In a pending motion in NCRR Compensation, intervener Walker 
F. Rucker seeks an order that he and the State of North Carolina be 
allowed and directed to participate in the negotiations for the 
trackage rights agreements that are the subject of this notice of 
exemption. The parties hereto replied, and Mr. Rucker responded to 
their replies. That collateral dispute provides no basis for 
rejection of the notice of exemption in this proceeding.
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    An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to STB 
Finance Docket No. 33788, STB Finance Docket No. 33789, or both (as 
applicable) must be filed with the Surface Transportation Board, Office 
of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925 K Street, N.W., Washington, 
DC 20423-0001. In addition, a copy of each pleading must be served on 
G. Paul Moates, Esq., Sidley & Austin, 1722 Eye Street, N.W., 
Washington, DC 20006.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our website at 
``WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.''

    Decided: August 23, 1999.

    By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 99-22340 Filed 8-26-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-00-P