STB MOVES TOWARD APPROVAL OF “BAYPORT LOOP”

STB MOVES TOWARD APPROVAL OF “BAYPORT LOOP”

STB MOVES TOWARD APPROVAL OF “BAYPORT LOOP”

   The U.S. Surface Transportation Board has conditionally granted an exemption for the San Jacinto Rail Co. and four chemical shippers to build a 12.8 mile rail line near Houston and to give the railroad’s parent, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, access to the new line.

   The line will run between the Bayport Industrial District (“Bayport Loop”) in southeast Houston and a connection with the former Galveston, Henderson and Houston Railroad, now owned by the Union Pacific Railroad.

   The STB said the San Jacinto’s proposed line would “increase competition” between the railroads and provide “an alternative rail service to Bayport Loop shippers that now depend solely on UP to meet their rail service needs.”

   However, the agency said construction of the line depends on the completion of an environmental review.

   The STB recently waived off concerns expressed by the United Transportation Union that the service on the Bayport Loop might be provided by a non-union subsidiary of BNSF, rather than BNSF itself. The agency said those concerns are “premature,” and that BNSF sought to provide the service.