FOR RELEASE
Contact: Dennis Watson
01/13/2005 (Thursday)
(202) 565-1596
No. 05-2
FIRS 1 (800) 877-8339
www.stb.gov


Public & Media Advisory: Surface Transportation Board Announces Cases & Matters To Be Addressed at January 19 Voting Conference


Surface Transportation Board Chairman Roger Nober has announced the matters and cases to be addressed at the STB's open voting conference to begin at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 19, 2005, in Room 760, the agency's hearing room, on the 7th Floor of the agency's headquarters in the Mercury Building, 1925 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.


At the conference, the Board Members will elect a Vice Chairman and will discuss publicly among themselves, and vote on, the cases listed below. While the conference is open for public observation, no public participation is permitted.


THE CONFERENCE ITEMS ARE:

Public Service Company of Colorado d/b/a [doing business as] Xcel Energy v. The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company, STB Docket No. 42057.


Delaware and Hudson Railway Company, Inc.--Discontinuance of Trackage Rights Exemption--in Susquehanna County, PA, and Broome, Tioga, Chemung, Steuben, Allegany, Livingston, Wyoming, Erie, and Genesee Counties, NY, STB Docket No. AB-156 (Sub-No. 25X).

Embraced cases:
Canadian Pacific Railway Company--Trackage Rights Exemption--Norfolk Southern Railway Company, STB Finance Docket No. 34561, and

Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Trackage Rights Exemption--Delaware and Hudson Railway Company, Inc., STB Finance Docket No. 34562.


CSX Corporation and CSX Transportation, Inc., Norfolk Southern Corporation and Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Control and Operating Leases/Agreements--Conrail Inc. and Consolidated Rail Corporation [Petition to Approve Settlement Agreement and Exempt Embraced Transactions], STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 95).

Embraced cases:

Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Co.--Trackage Rights Exemption--Norfolk Southern Railway Co. Between Bellevue and Toledo, OH, STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 95).

Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Co.--Trackage Rights Exemption--Norfolk Southern Railway Co. in Cleveland, OH, STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 97).

Norfolk Southern Railway Co.--Trackage Rights Exemption--Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Co. Between Clairton, PA and Bellevue, OH, STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 98).

Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Co.--Petition for Exemption--Purchase of the Toledo Pivot Bridge--Norfolk Southern Railway Co., STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 99).

Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Co.--Lease and Operation Exemption--Norfolk and Western Railway Co.'s Dock at Huron, OH, STB Finance Docket No. 32516 (Sub-No. 1).

Wheeling & Erie Railway Co.--Trackage Rights Exemption--Norfolk and Western Railway, STB Finance Docket No. 32525 (Sub-No. 1).


SMS Rail Service, Inc.--Petition for Declaratory Order, STB Finance Docket No. 34483.


Union Pacific Corporation, Union Pacific Railroad Company, and Missouri Pacific Railroad Company--Control and Merger--Southern Pacific Rail Corporation, Southern Pacific Transportation Company, St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company, SPCSL Corp., and The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company (Arbitration Review), STB Finance Docket No. 32760 (Sub-No. 43).


Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co.--Acquisition Exemption--Union Pacific Railroad Company, STB Finance Docket No. 34633.


Lamoille Valley Railroad Company--Abandonment and Discontinuance of Trackage Rights Exemption--in Caledonia, Washington, Orleans, Lamoille, and Franklin Counties, VT, STB Docket No. AB-444 (Sub-No. 1X).


Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--in Marquette County, MI, STB Docket No. AB-68 (Sub-No. 4X).


Minnesota Commercial Railway Company--Adverse Discontinuance--in Ramsey County, MN, STB Docket No. AB-882.

Embraced case: MT Properties, Inc.--Adverse Abandonment--in Ramsey County, MN, STB Docket No. AB-884.


Motor Carrier Bureaus--Periodic Review Proceeding, STB Ex Parte No. 656.


The STB's decision announcing the voting-conference agenda was issued on January 12, 2005 in Meetings of the Board, STB Ex Parte No. 333. That decision is available for viewing and downloading via the agency's Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov. A printed copy of the agency's decision also is available for a fee by contacting ASAP Document Solutions, 9332 Annapolis Rd., Suite 103, Lanham, MD 20706, telephone (202) 306-4004, or via asapdc@verizon.net.


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