[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 33 (Friday, February 16, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10770-10771]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-4024]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 34004]


Canadian Pacific Railway Company and Napierville Junction Railway 
Company-Corporate Family Transaction Exemption-St. Lawrence & Hudson 
Railway Company Limited

    Canadian Pacific Railway Company (CPR) and Napierville Junction 
Railway Company (NJR)\1\ (collectively applicants) have filed a 
verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(3) to absorb the 
St. Lawrence & Hudson Railway Company Limited (St. L & H) and the 
assets it holds back into CPR, its parent corporation.\2\ The United 
States assets of St. L & H rail to be absorbed into CPR are described 
as follows:\3\
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    \1\ NJR is a wholly owned subsidiary of CPR.
    \2\ St. L & H was created in 1996 as a wholly owned subsidiary 
of CPR. See Canadian Pacific Limited, Canadian Pacific Railway 
Company, and Napierville Junction Railroad Company-Corporate Family 
Transaction Exemption-St. Lawrence & Hudson Railway Company Limited, 
STB Finance Docket No. 33136 (STB served Oct. 9, 1996).
    \3\ Applicants state that the rail assets to be transferred in 
STB Finance Docket No. 34004 are identical to those covered by the 
transaction in STB Finance Docket No. 33136.
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    (1) St. L & H's interest in CNCP-Niagara Detroit, an Ontario 
partnership, which owns all of the stock of Detroit River Tunnel 
Company (DRTC) and Niagara River Bridge Company (NRBC). St. L & H held 
trackage rights from DRTC and NRBC: (a) through the Detroit River 
Tunnel (a railway tunnel connecting Detroit, MI, and Windsor, Ontario, 
Canada) in the U.S. from the international border (mid-tunnel at 
milepost 226.3) to the end of the connecting track at milepost 228.2, 
in Detroit, a distance of approximately 2 miles; and (b) over the 
Suspension Bridge (a railway bridge between Niagara Falls, Ontario, 
Canada, and Niagara Falls, NY) in the U.S. between the international 
border (milepost 0.2) and the end of the access track at milepost 0.0, 
in Niagara Falls, a distance of 0.2 miles. The trackage rights also 
include short segments of connecting track at both the Detroit River 
Tunnel and the Suspension Bridge.
    (2) St. L & H's leasehold interest in the rail properties of the 
NJR \4\ consisting of a 1.1-mile segment of track on the U.S. side of 
the international border near Rouses Point, NY, where NJR connects with 
the lines of the Delaware and Hudson Railway Company, Inc., a wholly 
owned subsidiary of CPR.
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    \4\ Applicants note that NJR was a party to the STB Finance 
Docket No. 33136 proceeding when it granted the leasehold interest 
to St. L & H. Applicants further note that, other than NJR's role as 
the lessor of the trackage, NJR is not involved in the STB Finance 
Docket No. 34004 transaction.
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    (3) St. L & H's incidental overhead trackage rights to reach 
connections with U.S. carriers in the Detroit terminal area as follows: 
(a) Former Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) trackage between the 
end of the Detroit River Tunnel connecting track (Conrail milepost 2.02 
Main Line) and Conrail milepost 9.3, Detroit Line, including the Delray 
Interlocking, at milepost 5.3, Detroit Line, and between milepost 2.02 
and milepost 3.1, Mackinaw Branch, a total distance of approximately 
8.4 miles; (b) former Norfolk and Western Railway Company (NW) line 
between the Delray Interlocking (NW milepost 4.4) and Oakwood Yard (NW 
milepost 8.87), a distance of approximately 4.47 miles; and (c) the CSX 
Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) line between Delray Interlocking (CSXT 
milepost 4.5) and Rougemere Yard (CSXT milepost 6.6), a distance of 
approximately 2.1 miles.
    The verified notice states that the transaction was consummated on 
January 1, 2001. The earliest the transaction could have been 
consummated was February 7, 2001, the effective date of the exemption 
(7 days after the exemption was filed).\5\
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    \5\ Pursuant to 49 CFR 1180.4, to qualify for an exemption under 
49 CFR 1180.2(d), a railroad must file a verified notice of the 
transaction with the Board at least one week before the transaction 
is consummated.
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    The transaction is part of a corporate reorganization designed to 
dissolve St. L & H and to absorb its properties and operations into 
CPR. This is a transaction within a corporate family of the type 
specifically exempted from prior review and approval under 49 CFR 
1180.2(d)(3). As described, the transaction will not result in adverse 
changes in service levels, operational changes, or a change in the 
competitive

[[Page 10771]]

balance with carriers outside the applicants' corporate family.
    Applicants state that there will be no change in operations as a 
result of this transaction, and they do not anticipate that any labor 
impacts will occur within the United States. Under 49 U.S.C. 10502(g), 
the Board may not use its exemption authority to relieve a rail carrier 
of its statutory obligation to protect the interests of its employees. 
Applicants state that they recognize the Board's obligation to impose 
employee protective conditions pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 11326(a) for the 
benefit of their U.S. railroad employees, and that they agree to 
imposition of the conditions imposed in New York Dock Ry.-Control-
Brooklyn Eastern Dist., 360 I.C.C. 60 (1979) (New York Dock).
    If the notice contains false or misleading information, the 
exemption is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the exemption under 49 
U.S.C. 10502(d) may be filed at any time. The filing of a petition to 
revoke will not automatically stay the transaction.
    An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to STB 
Finance Docket No. 34004, must be filed with the Surface Transportation 
Board, Office of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925 K Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, a copy of each pleading must be 
served on Diane Gerth, Esq., Leonard, Street and Deinard, 150 South 
Fifth Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our website at 
``WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.''

    Decided: February 9, 2001.

    By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-4024 Filed 2-15-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-00-P