News & Reviews News Wire Regulators set March 8 deadline for decision on termination of Montana Rail Link lease

Regulators set March 8 deadline for decision on termination of Montana Rail Link lease

By Bill Stephens | December 8, 2022

BNSF Railway will take over service on former Northern Pacific main line

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Blue and white locomotives on train in mountains covered with snow under blue skies
Regulators expect to issue a decision on Montana Rail Link’s transfer of operations to BNSF Railway by March 8, 2023. Tom Danneman

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators will issue a decision by March 8 on Montana Rail Link’s request for permission to discontinue service over 656.47 miles of track in Montana and Idaho as part of the early termination of its lease with BNSF Railway.

In a decision released today, the Surface Transportation Board accepted MRL’s petition, set the March deadline, and said any comments on the proposal would be due by Dec. 28.

The railroads announced in January that BNSF bought out the remaining years of Montana Rail Link’s 60-year lease on the former Northern Pacific main line. Terms of the deal between BNSF and MRL owner The Washington Cos. were not disclosed. But a BNSF financial report suggests the railroad paid MRL around $2 billion to tear up the lease well before it was scheduled to expire in 2047.

Once regulators approve the transaction, BNSF will resume control of the former Northern Pacific main line between Huntley, Mont., and Sandpoint, Idaho, which predecessor Burlington Northern leased to MRL in 1987.

BNSF will take over operations and maintenance of the leased routes, as well as service to MRL’s 125 customers. BNSF has reached agreements with the unions representing MRL employees.

BNSF also plans to resume service over certain MRL-owned branch lines under a trackage-rights agreement that will be the subject of a separate board proceeding, MRL said in a regulatory filing last month.

2 thoughts on “Regulators set March 8 deadline for decision on termination of Montana Rail Link lease

    1. Per a Trains article back in March 2022:

      Bennion said some small spurs to serve specific customers will transfer to BNSF, but larger branches — including the Bitterroot and Dixon branches — will be retained. Neither of those routes has been used for anything but car storage in recent years. But the company says its focus has been on the transfer of operations to BNSF, not the branches.

      Once the transfer is approved by the Surface Transportation Board, Bennion said, “what we want to do is engage in conversations with these communities” to determine what to do with the branch lines.

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