[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 73 (Monday, April 17, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 19784]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-5550]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 34848]


The Kansas City Southern Railway Company--Trackage Rights 
Exemption--The Texas Mexican Railway Company

    The Texas Mexican Railway Company (Tex Mex) has agreed to grant 
local and overhead trackage rights to The Kansas City Southern Railway 
Company (KCSR),\1\ to permit KCSR to operate over its entire line of 
railroad, approximately 157 miles, between milepost 0.0 at Laredo, TX, 
and milepost 157.0 at Corpus Christi, TX, including access to all 
sidings, yards and connections thereto.
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    \1\ A draft copy of the trackage rights agreement was filed with 
the notice of exemption. Applicants state that a copy of the 
executed agreement will be filed with the Board within the time 
frame specified at 49 CFR 1180.6(a)(7)(ii).
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    This notice is related to a concurrently filed notice of exemption 
in STB Finance Docket No. 34849, Kansas City Southern, The Kansas City 
Southern Railway Company, and The Texas Mexican Railway Company--
Exemption for Transactions Within a Corporate Family, which involves 
the assignment to, and acquisition by, KCSR of all of Tex Mex's 
trackage and operating rights, generally: (1) Over lines of Union 
Pacific Railroad Company (UP) between Beaumont and Houston, TX; (2) 
over lines of Houston Belt & Terminal Railway Company (HBT) in and 
around Houston; and (3) over lines of UP between Houston and Corpus 
Christi and Robstown, TX.
    The parties state that the transaction was scheduled to be 
consummated on April 1, 2006. However, on March 29, 2006, the record in 
the concurrently filed notice of exemption was supplemented, thereby 
causing the official filing date for both notices to be March 29, 2006. 
Therefore, the earliest this transaction could have been consummated 
was April 5, 2006 (the effective date of the exemption).\2\
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    \2\ Under 49 CFR 1180.4(g), a railroad must file a verified 
notice of the transaction with the Board at least one week in 
advance of consummation, in order to qualify for an exemption under 
49 CFR 1180.2(d).
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    This transaction, in conjunction with the assignment and 
acquisition of Tex Mex's trackage and operating rights in the related 
notice of exemption, will allow KCSR to provide single-line service 
from Kansas City to Laredo, and to market the route as a KCSR route 
without having to include Tex Mex in the routing or the bill of lading. 
KCSR will also provide local rail service to shippers located on the 
line.
    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).
    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 transaction.
    An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to STB 
Finance Docket No. 34848, 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, 427 West 12th 
Street, Kansas City, MO 64105, and William A. Mullins, 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: April 7, 2006.

    By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E6-5550 Filed 4-14-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P