PAR Grants Trackage Rights to NH to MBTA

[artman]

http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/news ... /?id=21232

"Trackage rights off the Worcester Main Line to allow potential future passenger service from Worcester to Ayer. This will provide a connection between the Worcester and Fitchburg Commuter Rail Lines, and a potential future connection to North Station.

Trackage rights to provide future passenger service to New Hampshire. This would allow for the extension of MBTA Commuter Rail service from Lowell to Concord, NH through Nashua and Manchester. That project would ultimately be sponsored and funded by the State of New Hampshire, similar to current Commuter Rail service to Rhode Island."

I realize this release is primarily about commuter rail, from the terms of the deal, it looks like PAR was quite gracious and generous in their terms. Seems like the trackage rights were quietly negotiated. Still nothing about MBTA rights to Plaistow, though.

[newpylong]

I wouldn't necessarily say generous. Part of all these deals is the fact that PAR will never be charged again to run on T trackage.

[artman]

I wouldn't necessarily say generous. Part of all these deals is the fact that PAR will never be charged again to run on T trackage.

Well, given their history, I call it generous. And they agreed to a lot in the, er, agreement. If you read the release, PAR agreed to hold to the 5 year old appraisal of Lechmere station land ($32 million) even though it is obviously worth a lot less now.

[Mcoov]

Could this be a very long precursor to expanded service within the city limits of Boston?

[F-line to Dudley via Park]

I wouldn't necessarily say generous. Part of all these deals is the fact that PAR will never be charged again to run on T trackage.

It is generous when PAR can't pull out of Boston fast enough. Fitchburg-Ayer and Lowell Jct.-state line are the only shared tracks they give a damn about going forward. Lot of traffic on those lines, but not a lot of shared mileage vs. what trackage rights they retain but make ever diminishing use all elsewhere on the northside. I'd call it fair for the rights bundle the T is getting in this deal, especially in light of the congestion abatement projects underway with the traffic overlap areas on the PAR main.

[newpylong]

I wouldn't necessarily say generous. Part of all these deals is the fact that PAR will never be charged again to run on T trackage.

It is generous when PAR can't pull out of Boston fast enough. Fitchburg-Ayer and Lowell Jct.-state line are the only shared tracks they give a damn about going forward. Lot of traffic on those lines, but not a lot of shared mileage vs. what trackage rights they retain but make ever diminishing use all elsewhere on the northside. I'd call it fair for the rights bundle the T is getting in this deal, especially in light of the congestion abatement projects underway with the traffic overlap areas on the PAR main.

Despite their abysmal record of reducing freight service and selling off property in town, I wouldn't count them out entirely yet. NS has long term plans, more near term being the East Boston branch, longer term being a return of the Mystic, etc. I would say "fair" is a better word than generous considering PAR will have carte blanche to wherever they want to go. Chances are wherever the T ends up being extended to will be fixed and maintained with someone else's money, so they win big too.

[b&m 1566]

I wouldn't count them out entirely yet. NS has long term plans, more near term being the East Boston branch, longer term being a return of the Mystic, etc.

Please, elaborate some more on these long term plans?

[Arlington]

I'm reviving this 7 YEAR OLD thread from MARCH 2011 because I recently found a good legal summary of the issues involved (from JUNE 2011) and more detailed explanation of "what happened"

GoulstonStorrs has a great summary of all issues involved when the T is a party to deals with other railroads. The whole thing is worth a read. In the explanation of the deal, the payload of "rights as far as Concord" comes in the last sentence of the second blurb.

Fair-use excerpt/summary:

...the MBTA has acquired from Pan Am Railways and its affiliates trackage rights allowing the expansion of service on virtually all of the right of way owned by Pan Am in Massachusetts, as well as some property in New Hampshire.
…
In 1976, the MBTA acquired certain railroad property from Conrail, Pan Am’s predecessor. ...The deed required Pan Am to pay a car-mile fee to compensate the MBTA for Pan Am’s share of the maintenance and dispatching costs. Since 1976, the MBTA and Pan Am and its successors have shared the right of way.

In 2010, the FTA gave preliminary approval for a $50 million TIGER grant to expand commuter rail service on the MBTA’s Fitchburg line to Wachusett Station... so the MBTA began working with Pan Am on a trackage rights agreement to accommodate the expansion.

Specifically, the MBTA received three tiers of rights to the property
Level 1 Rights = right to non-rev moves (immediately)
Level 2 Rights = right to implement commuter rail service while PanAm owns
Option Rights = right to trigger an appraisal and sale to the T

The properties covered by the deal are:
- Freight Main Line to Plaistow NH (allows relocation of the Bradford layover including a station stop in Plaistow
- Freight Main Line to Wachusett Station and Layover;
- Freight Main Line from the MBTA’s Haverhill line in Andover to the MBTA’s Lowell Line in Lowell;
- The Freight Main Line from the MBTA’s New Hampshire Main Line in Chelmsford to the MBTA’s main line in Ayer/Littleton;
- The Worcester Main Line from the MBTA’s Fitchburg Main Line in Ayer to the Worcester Union station.

In a separate deal related to a land disposition agreement involving the North Point development located on the municipal boundaries of Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville, the MBTA will acquire rights to the New Hampshire Main Line from the Massachusetts state line to Concord, NH.

Again, THIS IS AN OLD THREAD (from spring 2011--the time of the deal) but, at the time we didn't have such a nice legal backgrounder as Goulston & Storrs provided in June 2011)

[Arlington]

Happily, the Internet Archive took this snapshot of the G&S page in August 2011.(may load slowly)

[ANRP2]

Thanks!

[Backshophoss]

Tried the link SAID PAGE NOT FOUND!

[BandA]

It works for me.

[Arlington]

Tried the link SAID PAGE NOT FOUND!

It could be that your browser timed out. It works for me, but it does take a long time to resolve (since archive.org's servers are built for storage, not speed).


Here is a fair-use quote of just the PAR/NH part (the introduction to the article is worth reading because it covers all the legal components of what it takes to run a service)

They begin by listing 4 main categories of an agreement:
- Operating Rights and Windows
- Control of Maintenance and Dispatching
- Liability Allocation
- Construction Coordination

And describe these for the T's Worcester, RI, and South Coast services before they come to PAR/NH:

Trackage Rights Agreement Between the MBTA and Pan Am Railways

In another recent deal with important benefits for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ rail planning efforts, the MBTA has acquired from Pan Am Railways and its affiliates trackage rights allowing the expansion of service on virtually all of the right of way owned by Pan Am in Massachusetts, as well as some property in New Hampshire. The recent agreement is the latest development in a cooperative relationship between Massachusetts and Pan Am.

In 1976, the MBTA acquired certain railroad property from Conrail, Pan Am’s predecessor. Under the deed that transferred that property, the MBTA took ownership of the right of way, and assumed maintenance and dispatching obligations, but Pan Am retained the right to run freight service. The deed required Pan Am to pay a car-mile fee to compensate the MBTA for Pan Am’s share of the maintenance and dispatching costs. Since 1976, the MBTA and Pan Am and its successors have shared the right of way.

In 2010, the FTA gave preliminary approval for a $50 million TIGER grant to expand commuter rail service on the MBTA’s Fitchburg line to Wachusett Station, approximately five miles north of the current terminus at Fitchburg Station. The right of way between Fitchburg and Wachusett is owned by an affiliate of Pan Am Railways, so the MBTA began working with Pan Am on a trackage rights agreement to accommodate the expansion.

Rather than just negotiate an agreement for the extension, the parties sought to reach a wider-ranging deal that would allow the MBTA to expand commuter rail service on Pan Am’s right of way network in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. A more comprehensive agreement would set forth the terms for future commuter rail expansions, and eliminate the need to spend time and expense negotiating individual deals for each segment of track on which the MBTA might in the future elect to run service. A global trackage rights deal would provide the MBTA with certainty that it could exercise trackage rights for future expansions, and knowing the terms of that agreement in advance would greatly facilitate long-term rail planning in Massachusetts.

The Business Deal

For Pan Am, its long-term relationship co-existing with the MBTA’s commuter rail trains on shared tracks made the deal worth considering, provided that the terms of the future shared use of the right of way were acceptable, and that Pan Am received business benefits in return. Ultimately, the parties agreed that in exchange for the MBTA obtaining rights to Wachusett, which would be implemented immediately to access the TIGER grant, and rights to other properties, the MBTA would relieve Pan Am of the obligation to pay trackage rights fees on the separate properties that are subject to the 1976 Deed. Pan Am therefore received cash benefits up front and for the duration of the deal, while the MBTA received expansive trackage rights that it could exercise in the future.

Specifically, the MBTA received immediate rights to operate non-revenue service over Pan Am-owned right of way. Such properties are called “Level 1 Rail Properties.” In connection with the future expansion of commuter rail service, the MBTA can, after studying the infrastructure needs of the new service and constructing necessary right of way improvements, convert those properties to “Level 2” and implement commuter rail service while Pan Am retains ownership of the line. Or, the MBTA may in the future exercise an option to purchase the right of way property, which triggers an appraisal and sale by Pan Am to the MBTA at the appraisal price and converts the properties to “MBTA Rail Properties.” The properties covered by the deal are:

Freight Main Line to Plaistow NH (allows relocation of the Bradford layover including a station stop in Plaistow
Freight Main Line to Wachusett Station and Layover;
Freight Main Line from the MBTA’s Haverhill line in Andover to the MBTA’s Lowell Line in Lowell;
The Freight Main Line from the MBTA’s New Hampshire Main Line in Chelmsford to the MBTA’s main line in Ayer/Littleton;
The Worcester Main Line from the MBTA’s Fitchburg Main Line in Ayer to the Worcester Union station.

In a separate deal related to a land disposition agreement involving the North Point development located on the municipal boundaries of Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville, the MBTA will acquire rights to the New Hampshire Main Line from the Massachusetts state line to Concord, NH.

Resolution of Trackage Right Issues – Pan Am

Once the business deal was struck, the MBTA and Pan Am sought to resolve the difficult issues that face every commuter rail authority seeking to expand service over freight-owned lines. The three categories of trackage rights that the MBTA would acquire each had its own set of resolutions. The parameters of the trackage rights deal are described below.
Operating Rights and Windows: While the properties remain Level 1, the MBTA’s non-revenue usage must not interfere with Pan Am’s use of the property for freight service. When the MBTA exercises its option to run commuter rail service on Level 2 rail properties or if it elects to purchase the properties, the MBTA can schedule passenger trains, in consultation with Pan Am and consistent with a feasibility study, and Pan Am’s dispatching protocol must give priority to the MBTA’s trains.

Maintenance and Dispatching: If the properties remain Level 1 or Level 2, Pan Am retains ownership, as well as maintenance and dispatching responsibility. If the MBTA exercises its purchase option, it will provide maintenance and dispatching services. The maintaining party provides those services at its sole cost and expense, unless the other party requests a level of maintenance that exceeds the level that the maintaining party requires for its own service. In such event, the requesting party will pay the incremental cost of the enhanced maintenance standard.

Liability Allocation: Liability allocation provided the usual set of challenges, and resulted in yet another unique resolution. Pan Am initially sought a “but-for” indemnification from the MBTA, but the MBTA insisted on a more fault-based approach.
Ultimately, the parties agreed that for the Level 1 and Level 2 properties, the MBTA would agree to name Pan Am as an additional insured on its general liability insurance policies, and such insurance would respond to claims by third parties involving both MBTA and Pan Am above the MBTA’s $7.5 million self-insured retention. For joint incidents within the self-insured retention, each party would be responsible for its own fault, except that the MBTA would indemnify Pan Am for Pan Am’s negligence on claims above $3 million. Each party would be responsible for damage to its property or employees. If the MBTA purchases any of the properties, liability will be allocated based on the fault-based provisions of the 1976 Deed.
The liability deal allows both parties to keep in place their current insurance programs, but still provides a fault-based structure that will promote safety.

Construction Coordination: When the MBTA elects to operate commuter rail service on the Pan Am properties, it must first undertake a feasibility study that will determine what improvements to the track, signals, and other infrastructure are necessary to accommodate the level of service that the MBTA plans to implement. Pan Am will perform the infrastructure improvements as force account work, and the parties will coordinate construction activities so as to minimize interference with Pan Am’s freight operations.