FOR RELEASE
Contact: Dennis Watson
02/24/2005 (Thursday)
(202) 565-1596
No. 05-8
FIRS 1 (800) 877-8339
www.stb.gov


Public & Media Advisory: Surface Transportation Board to Hold March 24 Public Hearing on Challenges to Railroad Rates Under the "Stand-Alone Cost" Methodology


Surface Transportation Board Chairman Roger Nober has announced that the STB will hold a public hearing beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 24, 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., concerning the recently initiated proceeding entitled Rail Rate Challenges Under the Stand-Alone Cost Methodology, STB Ex Parte No. 657.


The agency's decision announcing the public hearing in STB Ex Parte No. 657 and providing additional information regarding participation in the hearing 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.


A fact sheet is attached.


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ATTACHMENT
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ATTACHMENT

Fact Sheet

PUBLIC HEARING
Rail Rate Challenges Under the Stand-Alone Cost Methodology, STB Ex Parte No. 657
March 24, 2005


The public hearing will be held to provide a forum for shippers, railroad companies, and other interested parties and persons to express their views, suggestions, and proposals regarding the agency's consideration of rail-rate reasonableness challenges under the "Stand-Alone Cost" (SAC) methodology. The hearing is not intended to offer a forum for the discussion of pending cases, but rather is intended as an opportunity for addressing broader issues that may relate to SAC cases generally.

Persons wishing to speak at the hearing should file with the agency a written "Notice of Intent to Participate,"and should indicate a requested time allotment, as soon as possible but no later than March 14, 2005. Each speaker's written testimony, if any, should be filed with the agency by March 18, 2005. A list of speakers will be issued to the public before the March 24 hearing.

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