[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 107 (Friday, June 3, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32265-32266]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13881]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
[Docket No. FD 35518]
Maine Northern Railway Company--Trackage Rights Exemption--
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, Ltd.
Pursuant to a written trackage rights agreement, Montreal, Maine &
Atlantic Railway, Ltd. (MMA) has agreed to grant overhead trackage
rights to the Maine Northern Railway Company (MNRC) between Madawaska,
Me. (at or about milepost 260 on MMA's Madawaska Subdivision) and the
connection to the Canadian National Railway (CN) in St. Leonard, N.B.
(at or about milepost 194.1 on CN's Nappadoggin Subdivision), plus
additional trackage described more completely in the agreement, which
MNRC attaches to its notice.\1\ MNRC recognizes that, although the
trackage rights agreement covers some track in Canada, Board
jurisdiction only extends to the U.S.-Canada border at Van Buren, Me.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Specifically, the agreement includes trackage ``* * *
between MP 260 and the connection with MMA's Van Buren Subdivision
at MP 264 and between the connection with MMA's Van Buren
Subdivision and MP V 22.7 of the Van Buren Subdivision, and between
MP V 22.7 of the Van Buren Subdivision and the connection with CN at
MP 194.1 of CN's Nappadoggin Subdivision, including the trackage
across the Van Buren Bridge, * * * and the track between MP V 22.7
and MP V 23.72 for headroom * * * .''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This trackage rights transaction stems from MMA's attempt to
abandon a connecting line in Northern Maine. The Board granted an
application to abandon that line, which is approximately 233 miles
long, in a decision served in December 2010.\2\ The 233 miles of line
was then acquired by the State of Maine, by and through its Department
of Transportation (State), in January 2011. The State has chosen a new
operator for the 233-mile line, MNRC, and, as part of the State's
agreement to acquire the line, MMA has agreed to grant these trackage
rights so that MNRC can access directly CN to the north once MNRC
begins to operate the line. MNRC plans to file a modified certificate
under 49 CFR 1150.22 for Board authority to operate the 233-mile
line.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ See Montreal, Me. & Atl. Ry.--Discontinuance of Service and
Aban.--in Aroostook and Penobscot Cntys, Me., AB 1043 (Sub-No. 1)
(STB served Dec. 27, 2010).
\3\ The transaction in Docket No. FD 35518 is related to the
following concurrently filed pleadings. In Docket No. FD 35519,
Maine Northern Railway Company--Trackage Rights Exemption--Montreal,
Maine & Atlantic Railway, Ltd., MNRC has filed a notice of exemption
for overhead trackage rights over an MMA line to the south to access
Eastern Maine Railway (EMR), to which MMA also has agreed as part of
the State's acquisition of the 233-mile line. In Docket No. FD
35520, The New Brunswick Railway Company--Continuance in Control
Exemption--Maine Northern Railway Company, The New Brunswick Railway
Company (NBRC), the parent company of both EMR and MNRC, has filed a
petition for exemption to continue in control of EMR and MNRC once
MNRC becomes a Class III carrier upon filing the modified
certificate. MNRC and NBRC have asked that the Board make all these
exemptions effective on June 15, 2011. The Board will address their
request in its decision in Docket No. FD 35520.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The transaction can be consummated on or after June 19, 2011 (30
days after the exemption was filed), unless otherwise ordered by the
Board.
As a condition to this exemption, any employees affected by the
trackage rights will be protected by the conditions imposed in Norfolk
and Western Railway--Trackage Rights--Burlington Northern, Inc., 354
I.C.C. 605 (1978), as modified in Mendocino Coast
[[Page 32266]]
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 13, 2011 (at least 7 days before the exemption
becomes effective), unless otherwise ordered the Board.
An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to Docket No.
FD 35518, 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 Karyn A. Booth, Thompson Hine LLP, Suite
800, 1920 N Street, NW., Washington, DC 20036.
Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov.
Decided: May 31, 2011.
By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2011-13881 Filed 6-2-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P