[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 221 (Thursday, November 15, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57507-57508]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-28502]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 34108]


Flats Industrial Railroad Company and Norfolk Southern Railway 
Company--Joint Relocation Project Exemption--in Cleveland, OH

    Flats Industrial Railroad Company (FIR) and Norfolk Southern 
Railway Company (NSR) filed a notice of exemption under 49 CFR 
1180.2(d)(5) for a joint project involving the relocation of lines of 
railroad in Cleveland, OH. The relocation pertains to and facilitates 
NSR's Cloggsville Connection, which is an overhead routing through 
Cleveland developed by NSR, relating to the acquisition of control over 
Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) by NSR and CSX Transportation, 
Inc.\1\ The transaction was expected to be consummated on or after 
October 24, 2001.
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    \1\ See CSX Corp. et al.--Control--Conrail Inc. et al., 3 S.T.B. 
196 (1998) (CSX/NS-Conrail).
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    FIR, a Class III carrier, owns a 4-mile rail line acquired from 
Conrail in 1996 that extends north from Knob to the Flats area of 
Cleveland, OH.\2\ NSR, a Class I carrier, along with its wholly owned 
subsidiaries, owns or operates approximately 21,800 miles of rail line 
in 22 states, the District of Columbia, and the Province of Ontario, 
Canada. Under Board authorization in CSX/NS-Conrail, NSR commenced 
operations over certain Conrail routes in the northeastern United 
States allocated to Pennsylvania Lines LLC (PRR), including the PRR 
line extending from the connection with FIR at Knob southward to a 
connection with a PRR east-west main line at Short. FIR's line between 
Knob and Cloggsville is immediately parallel to an NSR line, and at 
Cloggsville, NSR's east-west Nickel Plate main line passes overhead.
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    \2\ See Flats Industrial Railroad Company--Acquisition and 
Operation Exemption--Consolidated Rail Corporation, STB Finance 
Docket No. 33044 (STB served Oct. 11, 1996).
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    Under the Cloggsville Connection alternative, imposed by the Board 
as Environmental Condition No. 26(A) in CSX/NS-Conrail,\3\ NSR agreed 
to upgrade its line between Cloggsville and Knob and the PRR line 
between Knob and Short into a high-density, double-track main line 
route that now handles a significant amount of NSR's traffic in the 
Cleveland area. The Cloggsville Connection improvements have involved 
the relocation of a portion of NSR's new double-track main line onto 
FIR's adjacent right-of-way, requiring the relocation of certain FIR 
rail operations.
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    \3\ 3 S.T.B. at 355-56, 595.
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    With respect to the joint relocation project, FIR and NSR have 
reached an agreement to accommodate the FIR relocation and the transfer 
of the underlying right-of-way to NSR, as follows: (1) FIR's rail line 
extending between milepost 14.0 at Knob, and milepost 11.85 near West 
41st Street, a distance of approximately 2.15 miles, will be 
transferred to NSR, rebuilt and

[[Page 57508]]

permanently incorporated into the NSR double-track Cloggsville 
Connection main line; and (2) the existing FIR-NSR interchange will be 
relocated from Knob to the vicinity of Fulton Road, just north of the 
segment being transferred to NSR, where a new FIR interchange yard has 
been constructed at NSR's expense.
    The proposed joint relocation project will not disrupt service to 
shippers.\4\ Its stated purpose is to facilitate and finalize the 
Cloggsville Connection routing alternative which has significantly 
improved train operations through Cleveland and minimized adverse 
impacts on area residents.
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    \4\ There are no shippers located on the FIR segment to be 
transferred to NSR, and FIR will continue to serve all of its 
existing shippers as it has done in the past. Interchange operations 
between FIR and NSR will also continue but at a relocated point 
approximately 2 miles north of the former interchange location.
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    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). Under these standards, 
the incidental abandonment and construction components require no 
separate approval or exemption when the relocation project 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 
joint relocation project will be protected by the conditions imposed in 
New York Dock Ry.--Control--Brooklyn Eastern Dist., 360 I.C.C. 60 
(1979).
    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 to STB 
Finance Docket No. 34108, must be filed with the Surface Transportation 
Board, Office of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925 K Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, one copy of each pleading must 
be served on William C. Sippel, Fletcher & Sippel LLC, Two Prudential 
Plaza, Suite 3125, 180 North Stetson Avenue, Chicago IL 60601-6721, and 
John V. Edwards, General Attorney, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Three 
Commercial Place, Norfolk, VA 23510-9241.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our web site at 
``WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.''

    Decided: November 7, 2001.

    By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-28502 Filed 11-14-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-00-P