WASHINGTON — Surface Transportation Board Chairman Patrick Fuchs — who has indicated a desire to have the board address matters more quickly, as well as be more transparent — today (Feb. 21, 2025) offered updates on six long-running proceedings, one of which dates to 2009.
The matters in question are:
— An abandonment request from Conrail, dating to 2009, regarding 1.36 miles of the Harsimus Branch in Jersey City, N.J., as well as related filings by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern to discontinue service. That proceeding was delayed until 2014 by a court case, after which the board resumed its historic and environmental review process. On Feb. 10, a board decision directed parties to take actions related to an offer of financial assistance by Jersey City and CNJ Rail Corp. “The agency is actively reviewing associated filings, the most recent of which was submitted yesterday,” according to an STB press release, “and Chairman Fuchs expects the Board to continue to act promptly as appropriate to resolve this proceeding.”
— A disagreement between Amtrak and Canadian National Railway over a new operating agreement that dates to July 2013 that last saw board action in October 2022 [see “Regulators scold Amtrak, CN …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 31, 2022]. A Feb. 19 board decision provided details about its request for information and scheduled a technical conference in March to discuss those requests. Fuchs believes this will assist the effort to bring the case to a conclusion.
— A Savage Tooele Railroad filing, dating to 2022, to revive 6 miles of a former Union Pacific branch and build 5 miles of new track to service a business park in Grantsville, Utah [see “Analysis: Regulatory overkill stunts potential …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 16, 2023]. The board approved the proposal in April 2024 and work began in November [see “Groundbreaking held for new Utah short line,” News Wire, Nov. 8, 2024], but a petition for reconsideration of the board decision is pending. Fuchs has offered a draft action to the full board; he expects a decision in the first half of March, if not sooner.
— A request from February 2020 by R.J. Corman Railroad Property to abandon 41.05 miles of its Oneida Line in Tennessee’s Scott, Campbell, and Anderson counties. A notice in April of that year allowed Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning and the Cumberland Trail Conference to negotiate with R.J. Corman regarding interim trail use/railbanking of the route; four extensions of the negotiating period followed before the Tennesee Citizens group requested a fifth in December. In a Feb. 5 decision, the board declined that request, finding it premature, and encouraged the parties to work on negotiations before the end of the fourth extension on April 17, 2025.
— A December 2018 petition from North Dakota firm New Century Ag asking the board to reopen or revoke an exemption granted in 2007 allowing Canadian Pacific, through its Soo Line affiliate, to acquire and operate BNSF’s interest in 35.26 miles of jointly owned rail line near Crosby, N.D., as well as 9.96 miles of BNSF-owned trackage. New Century contends the STB’s granting of the exemption did not lead to preservation of competition for shippers. The board’s most recent action, in May 2022, held the matter in abeyance while New Century and CP held discussions in an attempt to reach a resolution. Fuchs said he intends to offer a draft action for consideration by the full board in March, with the goal of putting a decision to a vote soon thereafter.
— Union Pacific’s June 2022 request to build a rail line known as the Pecos Industrial Rail Access Train Extension, or PIRATE, to serve an industrial area near the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Maricopa, County, Fla. That request has been stalled since the board halted an environmental review in Augsut 2023 over its discovery of “significant ground disturbance and damage to archaeological resources in the area of the proposed right-of-way” [see “Regulators pause environmental review …,” News Wire, Sept. 1, 2023]. UP and members of the Arizona congressional delegation,last fall sought an update on the proceeding. That was followed by the last board action, a November 2024 request for documents [see “Regulators scold Union Pacific …,” News Wire, Nov. 14, 2024]. Fuchs intends to offer a draft action regarding a section of the National Historic Preservation Act for consideration by the full board, with a goal of a vote on a decision in March.
Too bad Fuchs wasn’t in charge when Colorado yuppies and tree huggers were delaying the Uinta Basin Railway in Utah with arguments that had no basis in law…
Line 3, last paragraph, should read “Maricopa County, AZ.” Mesa is not in Florida.