Railroad Forums
CHICAGO — Metra has asked the Surface Transportation Board to issue an injunction to prevent Union Pacific from acting on plans that the commuter railroad says would “degrade or halt service” on the three Metra lines operated by UP.
In a press release, Metra also says it has asked the STB to rule whether UP has a legal obligation to provide such service. Union Pacific believes it does not, while Metra “strongly disagrees,” according to the release.
“Metra and Union Pacific have had a longstanding, cooperative working relationship and our intention is to continue to maintain this relationship going forward,” Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski said in the release. “These filings are an effort by Metra to maintain the status quo on the UP North, Northwest and West lines while at the same time attempting to resolve critical points of disagreement between us.”
Metra says a key point of contention is Union Pacific’s “common carrier obligation,” which reflects the regulation of railroads as public utilities which must provide freight and passenger service at a reasonable price. UP believes that obligation no longer applies to its commuter operations, while Metra says no public agency has released UP or predecessor Chicago & North Western from those obligations. UP inherited the commuter operations when it acquired the C&NW in 1995.
In a response, Union Pacific acknowledged that it and Metra “have differing interpretations of the common carrier duty.” It said the lawsuit it filed in December 2019 [see “UP sues Metra over commuter operations,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 21, 2019] was “to determine a common understanding of the law because we believed the court was in the best position to resolve the parties' disagreement. … We disagree with Metra's effort to move the dispute to the Surface Transportation Board now.”
UP also said it has “been clear with Metra that service on these lines will not be degraded or halted,” although earlier this month it informed Metra would stop providing some support services as of the end of August and would seek to stop operating commuter trains within 90 days if it won the lawsuit, which it said could reach a decision later this year [see “UP says it will end some support to Metra operations …,” News Wire Digest, July 9, 2020].
The freight railroad says it seeks an “mututally beneficial service agreement” under which Metra would operate the service “and take on the Union Pacific employees who currently perform these duties,” while UP would continue to own and maintain the right-of-way and dispatch the route. It notes that this would bring the Metra service into alignment with other commuter rail operators on its system. UP also says this would be similar to services operated on the Milwaukee North line, which is Metra-owned but shared with and dispatched by Canadian Pacific, and the SouthWest Service, which Metra leases from Norfolk Southern, which continues to dispatch the route.
CHICAGO — The depth of disagreement between Metra and Union Pacific over commuter rail service on three Chicago-area UP lines is visible in Metra filings with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board seeking to ensure UP continues to provide service on those lines.
In two filings on Tuesday, Metra asks that the STB to rule that Union Pacific has a common-carrier obligation to provide commuter rail service on the three lines it current operates for Metra under a purchase of service agreement, and that the STB has the jurisdiction to enforce that obligation. The commuter agency also requests a preliminary injunction to prevent UP from ending commuter rail service while the STB considers Metra’s request for that ruling. Metra says an injunction is needed “to prevent the irreparable harm to the Chicago commuting public that UP’s threatened action will cause.”
Metra revealed in a Tuesday press release that it had asked the STB to become involved [see “Metra asks STB for injunction against Union Pacific to maintain commuter service,” Trains News Wire, July 21, 2020]. Union Pacific disagreed with the STB’s involvement, saying the court case it filed against Metra last December would determine the common-carrier dispute [see “UP sues Metra over commuter operations,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 21, 2019]
Union Pacific has responded today to the Surface Transportation Board by filing a 142-page document asking the STB to delay its proceedings at least until a federal court in Illinois rules on Metra's request to dismiss the Union Pacific case.
Union Pacific claims it will suffer “millions of dollars in losses and incur millions in additional risk” if forced to continue to operate commuter rail service for Metra, according to the previously sealed lawsuit it filed against the commuter rail agency last December.
The lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division was included with the railroad’s response to Metra’s request for the Surface Transportation Board to intervene in the dispute between the two parties. [see “Metra asks STB for injunction against Union Pacific …,” Trains News Wire, July 21, 2020, and “STB filings deail Metra, UP disagreement,” Trains News Wire, July 22, 2020]. Union Pacific is asking the STB to delay consideration of the case at least until U.S. Judge Jorge L. Alonso rules on Metra’s pending motion to dismiss the UP’s lawsuit.
The railroad also says in its STB filing that Metra “seeks to short-circuit its own motion to dismiss” by going to the STB, and that “Metra’s dilatory and forum shopping tactics are unfair to the Union Pacific and an affront to the District Court’s jurisdiction.” UP also says the injunction Metra seeks is available from the court, and that the STB has no jurisdiction to require action under the terms of the purchase of service agreement that covers Metra operations on the freight railroad.
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Union Pacific seeks to end the decades-long practice of operating trains for Metra, and wants an agreement transferring those operations — as well as about 850 Union Pacific employees who are involved with them — to Metra. Both sides say they are far apart in reaching an agreement, leading to Union Pacific’s declaration in a June 30 letter that it would stop providing some support services for Metra operations later this year and that it would seek to end operation of Metra’s trains within 90 days of a ruling on the court case.
STB's Oberman won't participate in Metra-UP proceedings
Surface Transportation Board Vice Chairman Martin Oberman, a former Metra board chairman, announced he will recuse himself from the STB’s proceedings regarding Metra’s request for a preliminary injunction and ruling in its ongoing dispute with Union Pacific [See “Metra asks STB for injunction against Union Pacific to maintain commuter service,” Trains News Wire, July 21, 2020]. With the STB board operating with just three members, this raises the possibility of a deadlock in decision-making
Metra will oppose UP's motion to delay STB action
Metra’s attorney filed a short letter with the Surface Transportation Board informing the agency it would “reply promptly” to Union Pacific’s request that the STB hold in abeyance its proceedings on the Metra-UP dispute [see “UP says it will lose millions operating trains for Metra,” Trains News Wire, July 22, 2020]. The letter from attorney Charles A. Spitulnik said the commuter railroad will ask the STB to deny UP’s motion “in light of the emergency circumstances Metra has outlined” in its filings earlier this week. Noting that a letter accompanying UP’s request said the freight railroad would not respond to Metra’s earlier filings unless the STB denies its motion, the letter included a pointed barb that Metra’s plan to respond is “unlike UP, which believes it can adhere to its own set of rules regarding replies to matters before the Board.”
CHICAGO – The Surface Transportation Board is declining to intervene in an ongoing dispute between Metra and Union Pacific – for now. In a decision published Wednesday, the STB is holding a decision on its jurisdiction in abeyance and has directed both parties to inform the agency of any rulings issued by the federal district court that is also involved in the matter.
In late July, Metra petitioned the STB to issue an injunction to prevent UP from acting on plans that the commuter railroad says would “degrade or halt service” on the three Metra lines operated by UP.
Metra says a key point of contention is Union Pacific’s “common carrier obligation,” which reflects the regulation of railroads as public utilities which must provide freight and passenger service at a reasonable price. UP believes that obligation no longer applies to its commuter operations, while Metra says no public agency has released UP or predecessor Chicago & North Western from those obligations. UP inherited the commuter operations when it acquired the C&NW in 1995.
The freight railroad says it seeks an “mutually beneficial service agreement” under which Metra would operate the service “and take on the Union Pacific employees who currently perform these duties,” while UP would continue to own and maintain the right-of-way and dispatch the route. It notes that this would bring the Metra service into alignment with other commuter rail operators on its system. UP also says this would be similar to services operated on the Milwaukee North line, which is Metra-owned but shared with and dispatched by Canadian Pacific, and the SouthWest Service, which Metra leases from Norfolk Southern, which continues to dispatch the route.
