(The following story by Pratik Joshi appeared on the Tri-City Herald website on July 22, 2009.)
RICHLAND, Wash. — BNSF Railway Co. filed a lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Richland against Tri-City & Olympia Railroad Co.
The lawsuit alleges that Tri-City & Olympia Railroad Co. is interfering with BNSF’s contractual right to operate railroad tracks in Richland.
BNSF operates one of the largest North American rail networks, with about 32,000 route miles in 28 states and two Canadian provinces, according to the company’s Web site.
The lawsuit is asking the court to prevent the short line railroad company from blocking BNSF’s access to the track, which extends beyond Kennewick to a point near Horn Rapids Road in Richland.
A hearing on a temporary restraining order is set for today.
BNSF claims that its right to use the Richland track has been secured by several agreements that railroad companies, including its predecessor, signed with the federal government.
The company operated the track until 2000, when it hired Tri-City & Olympia Railroad to serve BNSF customers along the Richland track and to interchange those cars with BNSF at the Richland junction.
Tri-City & Olympia Railroad runs and maintains the track for the Port of Benton, which received ownership of the track in 1998 from the federal government. As part of its agreement with BNSF, the short line company got paid per car switch. Those charges were absorbed into BNSF’s line haul rates.
Recently, BNSF modified its billing and payment arrangement with the short line company, which objected to the change. After BNSF refused to revert to the original semi-monthly payment system instead of the new monthly cycle, Tri-City & Olympia Railroad retroactively began billing the BNSF customers directly.
BNSF claims in its filing that BNSF customers are being charged double and those who haven’t paid Tri-City & Olympia are not being served. BNSF says it can’t alter its rates without going through a time-consuming regulatory requirement.
BNSF also claims its recent attempt to start direct service to its customers was thwarted by the short line company.