Potomac Passengers Ass'n v. Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad

363 F. Supp. 39, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12412
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedAugust 3, 1973
DocketCiv. A. No. 842-71
StatusPublished

This text of 363 F. Supp. 39 (Potomac Passengers Ass'n v. Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Potomac Passengers Ass'n v. Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, 363 F. Supp. 39, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12412 (D.D.C. 1973).

Opinions

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

CORCORAN, District Judge.

This action is before the Court on remand from the Court of Appeals, 475 F.2d 325, to enter a declaratory judgment pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2201 (1970), as to whether the operation of certain trains by the defendant Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) prior to May 1, 1971, and discontinued since that date, constituted “intercity” passenger service within the meaning of Section 401 (a)(1) of the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 (Amtrak Act), 45 U.S.C. § 501 et seq. (1970), or, to the contrary, whether such service was “commuter” or “short-haul service” within the meaning of Section 102(5) of the Amtrak Act. If the former, i. e., “intercity,” the B&O could have legally discontinued such service under the Amtrak Act after complying with the notice provisions of that Act, which the B&O did; but if the latter, i. e., “commuter,” the B&O could not have discontinued such service except with the sanction of the Interstate Commerce Commission (I.C.C.) 49 U.S.C. § 13a (1970), and the state regulatory agencies of the states through which the trains passed.

The trains in question are:

Train Nos. Leave Arrive Distance In Miles
Washington, D.C. 4:40 p. m. Chicago, III. 9:05 a. m. 770
Chicago, III. 3:50 p. m. Washington, D.C. 10:00 a. m. 770
Akron, Ohio 6:55 a. m. Washington, D.C. 7:00 p. m. 416
11-7 Washington, D.C. 8:05 a. m. Akron, Ohio 6:40 p. m. 416
12 Cumberland, Md. 7:00 p. m. Washington, D.C. 10:40 p. m. 544 *
17 Washington, D.C. 9:00 p. m. Cumberland, Md. 12:10 a. m. 146
33 Washington, D.C. 2:30 p. m. Cumberland, Md. 5:45 p. m. 146
34 Cumberland, Md. 6:00 a. m. Washington, D.C. 9:12 a. m. 146
35 Washington, D.C. 12:01 p. m. Cumberland, Md. 3:15 p. m. 146
* Originated at Cincinnati, Ohio.

Trains 5, 6, 8 and 11-7 all passed through Cumberland, Maryland and, between Washington, D.C., and Cumberland, Maryland, all trains in question offered service to passengers to and from Silver Spring, Maryland, Harpers Ferry and Martinsburg, West Virginia.1

The plaintiff, Potomac Passengers Association (Potomac Passengers), is a voluntary association of persons who formerly used the trains in question, to and from points between Washington, D.C. and Cumberland, Maryland. The association asserts that the operation was a “commuter” service. The defendants counter that the trains were “intercity.”

[41]*41After remand, this Court, by order of April 25, 1973, referred this matter to the I.C.C. for findings and an advisory opinion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(b) (1970). The parties submitted briefs to the I.C.C. The I.C.C. issued its opinion June 25, 1973, in Mavis Kennedy v. The Baltimore and Ohio R.R. Co., Finance Docket No. 26689,2 appended hereto as Appendix A.

The I.C.C. approached the case by considering six criteria of commuter service which it had theretofore applied on five separate occasions.3

Those criteria of commuter service as devised by the I.C.C. are these:

(1) The passenger service is primarily being used by patrons traveling on a regular basis either within a metropolitan area or between a metropolitan area and its suburbs;
(2) The service is usually characterized by operations performed at morning and evening peak periods of travel;
(3) The service usually honors commutation or multiple-ride tickets at a fare reduced below the ordinary coach fare and carries the majority of its patrons on such a reduced fare basis;
(4) The service makes several stops at short intervals either within a zone or along the entire route;
(5) The equipment used may consist of little more than ordinary coaches;
(6) The service should not extend more than 100 miles at the most, except in rare instances; although service over shorter distances may not be commuter or short haul within the meaning of the exclusion.4

After full consideration of the various criteria as they related to the trains in question, the Commission found that the nine trains in question were “intercity” and not “commuter or other short-haul service in metropolitan and suburban areas” as that language is used and applied in the Amtrak Act, 45 U.S.C. § 501 et seq. (1970).

Following receipt of the advisory opinion, Potomac Passengers submitted a brief in opposition,5 and argument was had.

The advisory opinion of the I.C. C. is, of course, not binding upon the Court. After independent consideration of the briefs, the arguments and the advisory opinion of the I.C.C., however, the Court finds that the criteria applied by the I.C.C. conformed to the standards of the Amtrak Act, 45 U.S.C. § 502(5), and that the findings and conclusions are amply supported by the record. This Court accordingly adopts the I.C.C. findings of fact and conclusions of law as its own. In so doing, the Court places great reliance on the I.C.C.’s administrative expertise and the necessity for a uniform application of national policy in cases of this nature.

The Court' accordingly enters its declaratory judgment this 3rd day of August, 1973, that the operation of the trains in question constituted intercity service within the meaning of Section 401(a)(1) of the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970, 45 U.S.C. § 501 et seq. (1970) and that the defendant Baltimore [42]*42& Ohio legally discontinued the same after compliance with the statutory notice provisions of the Act.

It is so ordered.

APPENDIX A

INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION SERVICE DATE JUNE 27, 1973

Finance Docket No. 26689

MAVIS KENNEDY V. THE BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILROAD COMPANY

Decided June 25,1973

Found, pursuant to the order of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, dated April 25, 1973, referring the matter herein to this Commission, that The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company train Nos. 5, 6, 8, 11-7, 12, 17, 33, 34, and 35, provided “intercity” and not “commuter or other short-haul service in metropolitan and suburban areas” as that language is used and applied in the Rail Passenger Act of 1970, 45 U. S.C. 501 et seq.

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Related

Creation of remedy
28 U.S.C. § 2201
§ 501
45 U.S.C. § 501
§ 502
45 U.S.C. § 502(5)
§ 561
45 U.S.C. § 561
§ 13a
49 U.S.C. § 13a

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Bluebook (online)
363 F. Supp. 39, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12412, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/potomac-passengers-assn-v-chesapeake-ohio-railroad-dcd-1973.