Notice2024-20118
Riverside Rail, Inc.-Operation Exemption-Tracks of Riverside Industrial Complex, Inc., in Bucks County, Pa.
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 6, 2024
Issuing agencies
Surface Transportation Board
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 173 (Friday, September 6, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 173 (Friday, September 6, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72920-72921]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-20118]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. FD 36781]
Riverside Rail, Inc.--Operation Exemption--Tracks of Riverside
Industrial Complex, Inc., in Bucks County, Pa.
Riverside Rail, Inc. (Riverside), a noncarrier, has filed a
verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1150.31 to operate over
approximately 4,665 feet of private railroad tracks located within a
68-acre industrial park known as the Riverside Industrial Complex
(Complex) in Bristol Township, Bucks County, Pa. (the Tracks).\1\ The
Complex and the Tracks are owned by Riverside's
[[Page 72921]]
corporate parent affiliate, Riverside Industrial Complex, Inc. (RIC),
and are adjacent to lines of railroad owned by the National Railroad
Passenger Corporation (Amtrak).
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\1\ Riverside previously filed a verified notice of exemption to
operate the Tracks in Docket No. FD 36761, but the notice was
rejected for a number of reasons. See Riverside Rail--Operation
Exemption--Tracks of Riverside Indus. Complex in Bucks Cnty., Pa.,
FD 36761 (STB served Mar. 29, 2024). The verified notice filed in
Docket No. FD 36781, however, provides sufficient information to
proceed with Riverside's exemption.
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According to the verified notice, railroad service was provided to
shippers within the Complex from 1986 to 2006 by Consolidated Railroad
Corporation (Conrail) pursuant to operating rights over a spur track
owned by Amtrak and approximately 100 feet of track owned and
maintained by Conrail that crossed a public road. Per the verified
notice, the Tracks, which are located solely within the Complex, have
remained intact on the ground but have been covered in some areas with
dirt and concrete. Riverside states that the expansion of existing
business in the Complex in recent years and the potential for
additional railroad customers locating there in the future have led
Amtrak, Conrail, and RIC to negotiate a series of agreements to
reestablish railroad service to the Complex. This is to be accomplished
through (1) RIC and Riverside uncovering and rehabilitating the Tracks
in coordination with Conrail; (2) Amtrak reconstructing the connecting
spur track on its property, which is expected to be completed in
September 2024; and (3) RIC reinstalling the road crossing, which is
also anticipated to occur in September 2024. Upon consummation of its
authority from the Board, Riverside will lease the Tracks from RIC and
retain the common carrier obligation to provide rail operations over
them. However, Riverside anticipates that initially, Conrail will be
the physical operator of the Tracks pursuant to trackage or operating
rights it obtains from Riverside under a separate agreement and any
necessary authority Conrail receives from the Board. The verified
notice states that rail operations by Conrail will consist primarily of
switching railcars to and from shippers in the Complex and a point of
connection to the tracks of Amtrak. Any future operations by Riverside
would be in interchange with Conrail on Complex property.
Riverside certifies that its annual projected revenues as a result
of the transaction will not exceed those that would qualify it as a
Class III carrier and will not exceed $5 million. Riverside also states
that neither its lease and operating agreement with RIC nor Riverside's
and/or Conrail's proposed operation of the Tracks involve any provision
or agreement that would limit future interchange with a third-party
connecting carrier.
The earliest this transaction may be consummated is September 22,
2024, the effective date of the exemption.
If the verified 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 effectiveness of the
exemption. Petitions for stay must be filed no later than September 13,
2024 (at least seven days before the exemption becomes effective).
All pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 36781, must be filed with
the Surface Transportation Board either via e-filing on the Board's
website or in writing addressed to 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC
20423-0001. In addition, a copy of each pleading must be served on
Riverside's representative, Thomas W. Wilcox, Law Office of Thomas W.
Wilcox, LLC, 1629 K Street NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006.
According to Riverside, this action is categorically excluded from
environmental review under 49 CFR 1105.6(c) and from historic
preservation reporting requirements under 49 CFR 1105.8(b).
Board decisions and notices are available at <a href="http://www.stb.gov">www.stb.gov</a>.
Decided: September 3, 2024.
By the Board, Valerie O. Quinn, Acting Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Eden Besera,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2024-20118 Filed 9-5-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on September 6, 2024.
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