[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 32 (Thursday, February 16, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 8339]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-1415]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 34822]


Kansas City Southern, The Kansas City Southern Railway Company, 
and Meridian Speedway LLC--Exemption for Transactions Within a 
Corporate Family

    Kansas City Southern (KCS), The Kansas City Southern Railway 
Company (KCSR), and the newly formed Meridian Speedway LLC (MSLLC) have 
filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(3) for a 
transaction within a corporate family. The transaction involves the 
transfer to MSLLC of KCSR's rail line between Meridian, MS, and 
Shreveport, LA, KCS's continuance in control of MSLLC when it becomes a 
rail carrier, and the subsequent grant back of operating rights by 
MSLLC to KCSR to allow KCSR to operate as MSLLC's contract operator in 
fulfilling MSLLC's contractual and common carrier obligations.\1\ This 
notice is related to two concurrently filed notices, STB Finance Docket 
Nos. 34821 and 34823, where Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR) and 
KCSR, respectively, have sought authority to acquire trackage rights 
over the line.
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    \1\ KCSR currently operates via trackage rights over 
approximately four-tenths of a mile section of track in Jackson, MS, 
that is controlled by Canadian National Railway Company (CN) as 
successor to Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Company (IC) pursuant to 
a trackage rights agreement dated March 26, 1986, between MidSouth 
Rail Corporation and IC (Jackson Trackage Rights Agreement). KCSR 
also currently operates over a railroad bridge over the Mississippi 
River at Vicksburg, MS, pursuant to a lease agreement between the 
Vicksburg Bridge and Terminal Company and The Yazoo and Mississippi 
Valley Railroad Company dated February 11, 1928, as amended and/or 
replaced from time to time (Vicksburg Bridge Lease). The transaction 
contemplates having both the Jackson Trackage Rights Agreement and 
the Vicksburg Bridge Lease assigned to MSLLC.
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    The parties had intended to consummate the transaction on the later 
of two dates, January 24, 2006, or upon completion of the environmental 
or historical documentation process as required under 49 CFR 1105.\2\ 
However, by decision served on January 23, 2006, the effective date of 
the three exemptions was stayed, at the joint request of CN, NSR, KCS, 
KCSR, and MSLLC, until February 23, 2006. Accordingly, consummation of 
the transaction cannot occur until February 23, at the earliest.
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    \2\ KCSR and NSR, believing that the transaction will help 
increase traffic on the line, have contacted the Board's Section of 
Environmental Analysis concerning any necessary environmental 
review.
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    This transaction and the transactions described in the two related 
notices of exemption are part of a joint-venture between KCS and NSR to 
share and upgrade this portion of the Meridian Speedway, a line running 
between Meridian, MS, and Dallas, TX.
    This is a transaction within a corporate family of the type 
exempted from prior review and approval under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(3). 
Based on the parties' description of the intracorporate transaction, it 
should not result in adverse changes in service levels, significant 
operational changes, or a change in the competitive balance with 
carriers outside the corporate family.
    As a condition to the use of this exemption, any employees 
adversely affected by this transaction will be protected by the 
conditions set forth in New York Dock Ry.--Control--Brooklyn Eastern 
Dist., 360 I.C.C. 60 (1979).
    If the verified 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. 34822 must be filed with the Surface Transportation 
Board, 1925 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, a 
copy of each pleading must be served on Robert B. Terry, Kansas City 
Southern, 427 West 12th Street, Kansas City, MO 64105; and William A. 
Mullins, Baker & Miller PLLC, 2401 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Suite 300, 
Washington, DC 20037.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov.

    Decided: February 10, 2006.

    By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 06-1415 Filed 2-15-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P