Can you help settle an argument for me, please?
Someone is claiming that California High Speed Rail will be hampered by Union Pacific's right of run intercity passenger trains. Here is what was posted on another forum.
Any help on this very specific problem would be appreciated. This is just a summary of the arguments. I will post the full arguments below.
Someone is claiming that California High Speed Rail will be hampered by Union Pacific's right of run intercity passenger trains. Here is what was posted on another forum.
What is of substance . . . is the fact that CalTrain does not own inter city passenger rights on the SF to San Jose corridor. Those inter city passenger rights are owned by the UPRR.The poster goes on to say that Union Pacific can either sell them or give them up. But another poster is claiming that Union Pacific has no rights to run passenger service, and that those rights were given up when Amtrak was formed.
Any help on this very specific problem would be appreciated. This is just a summary of the arguments. I will post the full arguments below.
What is of substance and Robert, Rafael, Clem and others who don’t want to talk about it is the fact that CalTrain does not own inter city passenger rights on the SF to San Jose corridor. Those inter city passenger rights are owned by the UPRR.
1. Now if the UPRR agrees to give them up (hardly likely) or agrees to sell them (maybe more likely, but not probably either), CalTrain has approved an MOU, implicit therein that the Authority will be able to use their corridor for HSR, which is most decidedly an inter city passenger service.
2. CalTrain excuses this problem right now by saying they have had successful agreements with the UPRR before and they are confident they will be able to obtain these rights. The CalTrain board approves the MOU on a 9-0 vote.
We should all be objecting to the process here. CalTrain has had years in which to obtain these needed rights, and thus far has not been successful. UPRR writes a letter dated Feb 23,2009, clearly indicating they are not just going to walk away and play dead.
If Union Pacific is claiming this, they are wrong. First, the rights to run intercity passenger trains, historically, expire if not used -- unlike many sorts of rights -- and Union Pacific isn't using them and hasn't for many many years. Second, the obligation to run said trains was transferred to Amtrak by Union Pacific (and all of its predecessors) back when Amtrak was formed. The rights probably followed the obligations. In addition, San Jose to San Francisco is an intercity route, so in fact Caltrain excercises intercity passenger running rights.
The chances that Union Pacific has any sort of legally enforceable exclusive right to run intercity passenger trains? Zero percent. At the most they might have a "preemptive" right to run them, but if they decline to run them, they're *OUT*. If they're angling to run the CAHSR operation, I wish them the best of luck. If they're angling for a small payout, they'll probably get it. If they're angling for anything more, they will be swatted down hard.
Please note: between SF and SJ, UP has freight rights as well as EXCLUSIVE intercity passenger rail travel. Nothing is happening on the Caltrain corridor without UP's say-so.If you are interested in giving your opinion on this matter, you can talk about it in the comments section here: http://cahsr.blogspot.com/2009/04/two-q ... dates.html