[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 103 (Friday, May 27, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31010-31011]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13248]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. FD 35505]


Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, Ltd.--Trackage Rights 
Exemption--Maine Northern Railway Company

    Pursuant to a written trackage rights agreement, Maine Northern 
Railway Company (MNR) has agreed to grant overhead trackage rights to 
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, Ltd. (MMA) over approximately 151 
miles of rail line owned by the State of Maine (the State) between 
milepost 109 near Millinocket, ME. and milepost 260 near Madawaska, ME 
(Subject Trackage).\1\ MMA states that, as of January 14, 2011, it sold 
the Subject Trackage, together with certain other lines in Penobscot 
and Aroostook Counties, ME, to the State. The State has selected MNR to 
operate the Subject Trackage and the other lines, and MNR plans to file 
a notice for a modified certificate of public convenience and necessity 
under 49 CFR. 1150.23 for Board authority to operate these lines.
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    \1\ The Subject Trackage was formerly part of the Madawaska 
Subdivision of MMA discussed in Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, 
Ltd.-Discontinuance of Service and Abandonment-in Aroostook and 
Penobscot Counties, ME, Docket No AB 1043 (Sub-No. 1) (STB served 
Dec. 27, 2010). The instant transaction is an outgrowth of that 
case.
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    The transaction is scheduled to be consummated by June 14, 2011. 
Consummation may not occur prior to June 10, 2011, the effective date 
of the exemption (30 days after the exemption was filed).
    The purpose of the transaction is to connect the MMA lines south of 
Millinocket and the MMA line beyond Madawaska. The trackage will enable 
MMA to provide through service between St Leonard, New Brunswick, where 
MMA and Canadian National Railway Company (CN) interchange, and the 
rest of MMA's rail system,

[[Page 31011]]

including connections with the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and CN 
near Montreal and with the Pan Am Railways system at Northern Maine 
Junction, ME.
    As a condition to this exemption, any employees affected by the 
trackage rights will be protected by the conditions imposed in Norfolk 
& Western Railway--Trackage Rights--Burlington Northern, Inc., 354 
I.C.C. 605 (1978), as modified in Mendocino Coast Railway--Lease & 
Operate--California Western Railroad, 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 effectiveness of the exemption. Stay petitions 
must be filed by June 3, 2011 (at least 7 days before the exemption 
becomes effective).
    An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to Docket No. 
FD 35505, must be filed with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, a copy of each 
pleading must be served on James E. Howard, One Thompson Square, Suite 
201, Charlestown, MA 02129.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov.

    Decided: May 24, 20011.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Andrea Pope-Matheson,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2011-13248 Filed 5-26-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P