Rock Island to Operate Temporarily for BNGR in Oklahoma
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
Hernando, Miss.-based Rock Island—a rail carrier and short line holding company that offers switching, railcar storage, locomotive maintenance, railcar fleet management, and railroad management services—will take over for BNGR and provide local rail service through March 31, 2024, along a 37.26-mile line in Oklahoma. (Rock Island Photograph)
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) is permitting the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific (Rock Island) to provide service for 30 days over rail line owned by the state of Oklahoma and the Blackwell Industrial Authority (BIA), which late last month petitioned for an emergency service order.
Blackwell Northern Gateway Railroad Company (BNGR) had been leasing the line owned by state of Oklahoma, acting by and through the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT), and BIA. But the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on Feb. 3 issued an emergency order requiring BNGR, a Class III railroad headquartered in Blackwell, Okla., to “discontinue operation of all trains, locomotives and any other on-track rail vehicles or equipment under any circumstance,” stating that the short line was operating with “a complete disregard for the safety of the public.”
Now, the Hernando, Miss.-based Rock Island—a rail carrier and short line holding company that offers switching, railcar storage, locomotive maintenance, railcar fleet management, and railroad management services—will take over for BNGR and provide local rail service through March 31, 2024, along the 37.26-mile line*, where shippers Tensar International, LLC, and A-Line T.D.S., Inc. are located.
The STB in its March 1 decision (download below) said it “may issue an order pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 11123(a) when it determines that circumstances, such as the unauthorized cessation of operations or other failure of traffic movement, exist that creates ‘an emergency situation of such magnitude as to have substantial adverse effects on shippers . . . or that a rail carrier providing transportation subject to the jurisdiction of the Board . . . cannot transport the traffic offered to it in a manner that properly serves the public.’ The Board ‘will [prescribe alternative service] under 49 U.S.C. [§] 11123(a) if the Board determines that, over an identified period of time, there has been a substantial, measurable deterioration or other demonstrated inadequacy in rail service provided by the incumbent carrier.”
The STB said that an order under § 11123 “is warranted under these particular circumstances.” It pointed out that the “record shows that rail service over the line has completely ceased, and BNGR cannot transport the traffic offered to it in a manner that properly serves the public as it is currently prohibited from operating under the FRA Order, and [the two] shippers warn that they are currently suffering from substantial adverse effects (and face further harm) due to the loss of rail service over the line.”
According to the STB, “[t]hese facts are uncontested, Rock Island supports the petition, and BNGR does not oppose it.” Additionally, it said, “the conditions, which have precluded service by BNGR for some time, meet the criteria for relief in § 1146.1(a),” and Rock Island will be granted the authority “to provide alternative rail service over the line for an initial period of 30 days under the terms of its agreement with ODOT and BIA. …”
If the state of Oklahoma/ODOT, BIA and the shippers “intend to seek an extension of this order, they should do so well in advance of the 30-day deadline,” the STB said, so the agency has “sufficient time to consider and issue a decision before the authority under this order expires.” Any such request should include further information on the “efforts to identify a carrier to operate over the Line on a long-term basis and an explanation as to why an extension of the emergency service order is the appropriate mechanism for continuing service on the line,” according to the STB, which was to provide a copy of its decision to the FRA.
* According to the STB: ODOT owns the portions of the line extending from milepost 18.32 at Hunnewell, Kans., to milepost 35.35 at Blackwell, Okla., and from milepost 127.0 to milepost 126.45 in Blackwell. BIA owns the portions of the line extending from milepost 0.09 at Wellington, Kans., to milepost 18.32 at Hunnewell, and from milepost 126.45 to milepost 125.0 in Blackwell.
