WASHINGTON — BNSF Railway this week asked federal regulators to ensure that it can use its trackage rights over Union Pacific to interchange with a proposed new short line railway in Utah.
UP last month sought Surface Transportation Board permission to reinstitute common-carrier service over a 1.04-mile section of the abandoned Warner Branch. The connecting track would serve as a link between UP’s Shafter Subdivision and the Savage Tooele Railroad, which aims to revive the 6-mile Warner Branch, restore a quarter mile of ripped-up track, and build 5 miles of new track in the Lakeview Business Park, which is being built in Grantsville, southwest of Salt Lake City.
The STB is currently considering Savage’s plans as well as UP’s petition to reactivate the connecting track.
BNSF is crying foul.
“It appears that UP has structured its transaction with STR, including UP’s retention of ownership and intended common carrier operation of the Connecting Track, in an attempt to establish a one-mile physical barrier between the Shafter Subdivision and STR intended to prevent BNSF from interchanging with STR and accessing customers at the Lakeview Business Park,” BNSF said in a regulatory filing.
BNSF was granted trackage rights to operate over the Shafter Subdivision as well as the right to interchange with any new shortline connecting to the line as a condition of the STB’s 1996 approval of the UP-Southern Pacific merger.
“STR stated throughout its petition for exemption that it anticipates interchanging with both UP and BNSF at Burmester, Utah, along UP’s Shafter Subdivision,” BNSF said.
“BNSF believes that, regardless of the ownership or regulatory status of the Connecting Track, BNSF should have the right to interchange with STR once the new shortline begins operating, consistent with STR’s stated intent and UP’s obligation,” BNSF said.
BNSF alleges that the Savage Tooele matter fits a pattern: “UP’s position regarding BNSF access to interchange with STR is the latest attempt by UP to erode the essential competition-preserving bargain that it struck to obtain Board authority for the UP/SP merger in 1996. Over the last quarter-century, BNSF has repeatedly and successfully sought to enforce the rights of BNSF and its customers under the UP/SP merger conditions – all in the face of UP’s efforts to limit competition by restricting BNSF access.”
All railroad actions are designed to protect the franchise. That above all.
One Word: WWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!
All the lawyers must be happy.
This sounds similar to the CN sale and cancellation in NY state.
Refreshing my memory here…isn’t BNSF the railroad that repeatedly and willfully refused to honor it’s agreement with Navajo Energy company this past summer to transport an agreed upon number of loaded coal trains to the west coast? In a way, this sounds to me like BNSF wants to pat itself on the shoulder for it’s double standard thinking.
It’s always great news, when a formerly abandoned rail route is brought back into service.
As far as the government effort to maintain competition amongst the remaining railroads, IMHO they “missed the boat” when they approved the UP-SP merger…what they should have required was for the UP to divest any parallel routes they acquired. In other words, the former D&RGW Denver to Salt Lake City, and the Western Pacific should have been spun off to the BNSF, rather than simply getting trackage rights. And the same to any other routes that the UP parallel the SP. This should be the case in all future mergers to maintain some semblance of competition, as well as preserving routes from abandonment.
I gotta say to BNSF, did you expect UP to knock on your front door and give it away? As NS found out about CSX, you have to pay attention every day, all the time.
Sounds like the 1870’s. Or Penn Central. But manipulating track access to maximise profit is in there with not maintaining facilities to maximize profit today and not worry about tomorrow. Gould, Fisk, etc. would be proud.
For the betterment of us all, can you not just get along?
They play dirty amongst themselves yet they portray themselves to the public as perfect angels in a world gone mad. If they do those kind of shenanigans amongst themselves imaging the kind of stuff they do to the unknowing public and to their employees.