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>From the Surface Transportation Board, Washington, D.C.
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The Surface Transportation board has scheduled a third series of oral
arguments for Tuesday, January 26, 2010, at 9:30 a.m., at the STB's
Washington headquarters.
Board members will hear from
parties in San Benito Railroad
LLC—Acquisition Exemption—Certain
Assets of Union Pacific Railroad
Company (San Benito), STB Finance
Docket No. 35225; and Allegheny
Valley Railroad Company—Petition
for Declaratory Order (Allegheny
Valley), STB Finance Docket No.
35239.
In the San Benito case, a
non-carrier wants to purchase
12.43 miles of rail line from the
Union Pacific Railroad in a
transaction that would allow San
Benito to purchase the physical
assets of the rail line without
incurring common-carrier
obligations. San Benito cites the
Interstate Commerce Commission's
decision in State of Maine—Acq.
And Op. Exempt, 8 I.C.C.2d 935
(1991) (State of Maine), and
subsequent Board decisions
addressing State of Maine as
precedent. The Brotherhood of
Maintenance of Way Employes
Division/IBT and the Brotherhood
of Railroad Signalmen oppose the
transaction and contend that State
of Maine was wrongly decided.
In the Allegheny Valley case, the
Allegheny Valley Railroad filed a
petition for a declaratory order
to determine whether a rail-line
segment in Pittsburgh, PA, remains
an active rail easement. Claiming
the easement remains active,
Allegheny Valley wants to restore
the line segment as part of a
longer line and provide passenger
and freight rail service over it.
The segment spans property owned
by The Buncher Company, which
claims that the segment has been
abandoned and that the property
interest has been extinguished.
Each side in each case will have
20 minutes to argue its position
and to take questions from Board
members, similar to proceedings in
federal appellate courts. The
oral argument is scheduled to
begin at 9:30 a.m. in the hearing
room at STB headquarters, 395 E
Street SW in Washington, D.C.
Though the proceedings are open to
the public, only counsel for the
parties to the cases will be
permitted to speak. Photo
identification is necessary to
enter the building.
A live video broadcast of the oral
argument will be available via the
Board's Web site at
http://www.stb.dot.gov, under
"Information
Center"/"Webcast"/"Live Video" on
the home page.
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