WASHINGTON — Union Pacific has urged federal regulators to squash BNSF Railway’s request to gain access a proposed short line railroad in Utah.
Last month BNSF told the Surface Transportation Board that it should have the right to connect with the Savage Tooele Railroad due to trackage rights it was granted over UP’s Shafter Subdivision as part of the UP-Southern Pacific merger.
But the way the UP-Savage Tooele deal is structured, BNSF says, creates a 1-mile barrier between the short line and the Shafter Subdivision. UP will retain control over 1.04 miles of the Warner Branch, which Western Pacific abandoned in 1983. Savage Tooele aims to revive 6 miles of the branch, restore a quarter mile of track, and connect it to 5 miles of track that it wants to build in a business park in Grantsville, Utah.
“BNSF’s motion seeks to block a procompetitive transaction designed to facilitate the development of rail service to an industrial park. BNSF recognizes it has no right to serve the park using the line at issue in this proceeding, so it has decided to play spoiler,” UP said in a regulatory filing this week.
BNSF has trackage rights on the Shafter Sub, UP told the board, but not on the Warner Branch.
UP said it wants to retain the 1.04 mile stretch of the Warner Branch, which it has been using as ancillary track.
“BNSF obtained expansive rights to use Union Pacific’s property when Union Pacific merged with Southern Pacific almost 30 years ago. But those rights have defined limits,” UP told the board. “BNSF’s belief that it is entitled to connect to STR using Union Pacific’s Warner Branch has no basis in law or reason.”
The STB is currently considering Savage’s plans as well as UP’s petition to reactivate the connecting track.
Track has been removed for decades, is not idle trackage, is right of way land. The business park needing rail service is a retiring Senator’s business. The branch formerly served an ammunitions depot.
Some of it was removed. That is what Savage Tooele is trying to get permission to do. Return that part to service. Of course the government wants them to stand on their heads and sing Glory, Glory Hallelujah instead of just giving them what they want to create rail serviced industries and rail created jobs in a piece of high desert 40 miles west of Salt Lake City. Why isn’t Chairman Oberman complaining about that. Bill Stephens did in a good article in December Trains. But of course, that fell on deaf ears. Under the STB/USDOT since 2020 59 different ROW’s have been approved for abandonment while only 9 have been approved for use or construction. What is department that Mayor Pete works for? I thought it was the Department of Transportation. Sure doesn’t sound like it though. Sounds more like the Department of Trucks and Airline funding…
Since they are both in the same business, they should both be happy that someone is actually trying to restart up some idle trackage. New business for a new railroad. BNSF playing the jealous one here??? They can’t even keep their agreement with Montana Coal contracts to haul an agreed amount of coal for their customer there.
It Funny How the Union Pacific has So Much Haulage and Trackage over the BNSF but it’s not the Same Otherwise??????
Half the Rail served in Utah is by BNSF with trackage rights over UP. They don’t need any more help picking off UP customers when they refuse to take care of the ones they have except for JB Hunt.
Can’t have competition now, can we…..?