[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 107 (Friday, June 3, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 32266]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13886]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. FD 35519]


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 
Millinocket, Me. (at or about milepost 109 on MMA's Millinocket 
Subdivision) and Brownville Junction, Me. (at or about milepost 104.84 
on the Mattawamkeag Subdivision of the Eastern Maine Railway (EMR)), 
including MMA's Brownville Junction Yard.
    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.\1\ 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 EMR to the south 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.\2\
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    \1\ 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).
    \2\ The transaction in Docket No. FD 35519 is related to the 
following concurrently filed pleadings. In Docket No. FD 35518, 
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 north to access 
Canadian National Railway, 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.
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    The transaction is expected to 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 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 by the Board.
    An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to Docket No. 
FD 35519, 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. 2011-13886 Filed 6-2-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P