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3/26/2021
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) yesterday rejected the Colorado Midland & Pacific Railway Co.'s (CMPR) request to expedite its proposal to begin operating trains on the Tennessee Pass Line in Colorado.
A new subsidiary of the Rio Grande Pacific Corp., CMPR filed its plan for approval with the STB to lease from Union Pacific Railroad and operate 163 miles of the Tennessee Pass Line between Parkdale and Sage, Colorado. CMPR asked the STB for a class exemption from a more rigorous STB review because the railroad operator said its plan was "limited in scope."
But in a ruling yesterday, the STB called the proposal "highly controversial." A number of conservation groups and communities along the proposed route have filed opposition to CMPR's desire to expedite its STB review.
"UP's arguments that 'this is a routine, noncontroversial short-line lease transaction' are not persuasive," the STB's ruling states. "And CMPR's reply ... does not sufficiently address broader issues and concerns raised and the significant controversy surrounding the transaction."
The STB ruling can be read here.