General Discussions

"...Because the Board is best suited to resolve the common carrier dispute raised here, Metra has filed a Petition for Declaratory Order asking the Board to: (1) to declare that UP has a longstanding common carrier obligation to provide commuter rail passenger service on the subject UP lines; and (2) affirm that the STB has the jurisdiction and the authority to enforce UP’s common carrier obligation." Finance Docket No. 36420 The Commuter Rail Division of the Regional Transportation Authority, an Illinois unit of local government, d/b/a Metra (“Metra”) hereby requests that the Surface Transportation Board (“STB” or “Board”) issue a Preliminary Injunction enjoining Union Pacific Railroad Company (“UP”) from ceasing commuter rail passenger service, violating its common carrier obligation to provide service on the lines known as the UP North, UP West, and UP Northwest lines (“UP lines”) in Chicago, before the STB issues a decision on the issues raised in Metra’s Petition for Declaratory Order, filed concurrently with this document. UP is threatening to begin to reduce the scope of services it provides in conjunction with commuter rail passenger service. UP bases its threats on assertions that both are fundamentally wrong as a matter of law, and place Metra commuters in a precarious situation. The Board should grant the injunction requested here to prevent the irreparable harm to the Chicago commuting public that UP’s threatened action will cause. https://prod.stb.gov/proceedings-actions/dockets-and-service-lists/