Still more Friday morning rail news:
Federal judge voids UP employment agreement in Palestine, Texas
A federal court has ruled in favor of Union Pacific in its lawsuit against the city of Palestine, Texas, voiding the agreement which required the railroad to employ a certain percentage of its workers in the city. Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, agreed with UP’s contention that the agreement with Palestine — which dates to 1872 and requires the railroad to employ 0.52% of office and shop employees in the community about 110 miles southeast of Dallas — is preempted by the federal Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, because it “unreasonably burdens and interferes with” railroad activity. The decision makes it possible for UP to close a car repair shop employing 60 people [see “UP sues to end employment provision in Texas town,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 2, 2019].
Court battle delays funding for SMART extension
Completion of Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit’s northward extension to Windsor, Calif., has been pushed back to 2022 because of a delay in receiving some funding for the 3-mile addition. The North Bay Business Journal reports the $65 million project is to be paid for from sources including $40 million from regional bridge tolls, but money from three scheduled toll increases are being held up by a legal battle over the ballot measure approving those tolls. That battle is now going to the state Supreme Court. SMART board chairman David Rabbitt said the long legal delay was unexpected: “The lower court rulings were … relatively definitive. But here we are, and that’s the schedule that we have.”
Counties to establish commission on Philadelphia-Reading passenger service
Berks County (Pa.) commissioners have agreed to join a Tri-County Rail Commission seeking the restoration of passenger service between Philadelphia and Reading, along with Chester and Montgomery counties. PennLive.com reports the committee would be working to determine the next steps in the project, which has advanced after a 2020 study by the group Berks Alliance laid out the case for restoring passenger service along the route. The study is available here. The county commissioners expect to name their three representatives on the rail commission in the next few weeks.
