Critically, though, they conceded that ISW had not exercised the discretionary authority to take the final step, called a consummation of abandonment. They observed that ISW had filed for and received authority to abandon the line in 2010. The landowners alleged that no trains have moved over the line since 2004 and that ISW removed the track sometime before 2013.

So, the landowners asked the STB to issue what they characterized as a declaratory order of abandonment with respect to a 17.2- mile ISW corridor. Under Indiana law, if a railroad that acquired a right- of- way as an easement for railroad purposes abandons its common carrier duties, the title reverts to the adjacent landowners. This group of landowners hold property adjacent to a part of the ISW's right of way. The STB had occasion to revisit many of its fundamental rules in a recent case brought by Indiana landowners against the Indiana Southwestern Railway Co. That process is still far from trivial, but it is much simplified versus the difficult, litigation-filled process that prevailed prior to deregulation. They used the agency's exemption authority to create a categorical exemption from its prior approval requirements for lines that have had no traffic in the past two years. But after partial deregulation of the industry in 1980, Reagan-era leaders of the agency with smaller-government views streamlined the process. It could take a railroad years to secure authority to shut down a money-losing line. For decades, in the era of intense regulation, this could be a difficult process. Legally, it cannot extinguish its common carrier duties without obtaining permission from the STB. The Surface Transportation Board (STB) recently had occasion to consider these issues, and others, and gave clear and unequivocal answers.ДЄ railroad is a common carrier with a legal obligation to serve customers on reasonable request. When is a railroad line abandoned? If a railroad has had no traffic for 16 years and the tracks were removed six years ago, is that sufficient? What if the railroad had sought legal authority to abandon the line nine years ago but didn't complete the formal action to do so?

Stb law