Justia Transportation Law Opinion Summaries

The railroad owns a 2.8-mile right-of-way that it has leased to the Chicago Transit Authority for almost 50 years. When the lease became too costly, the CTA sought to condemn a perpetual easement. The district court enjoined the condemnation as preempted by the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, 49 U.S.C. 10501(b). The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The railroad and its right-of-way fall under the Act; the proposed state condemnation would be a regulation of railroad transportation preempted by the Act. The court employed an "as applied" analysis and concluded that the condemnation would prevent or unreasonably interfere with rail transportation by changing the relationship between the parties. Under the proposed easement, the CTA's rights would not be subject to termination for any reason. The railroad would lose property rights to reclaim the property if the CTA ceases passenger transportation operations on the Right of Way or violates any term of the lease and to oust the CTA from the Right of Way if the CTA fails to meet its lease obligations. View "Union Pacific R.R. Co. v. Chicago Transit Auth." on Justia Law

Plaintiffs' predecessors bought their Wisconsin land from the federal government in 1882-1884 and the railroad obtained an easement to cross the land by condemnation. The railroad abandoned the easement in 1980 by obtaining ICC permission and removing tracks. More than 20 years later, the county, wanting to construct a snowmobile trail, claimed that the land reverted to county ownership by virtue of a law enacted in 1852. The district court ruled in favor of the county. The Seventh Circuit reversed, first rejecting the county's claim that only the federal government had standing to challenge non-compliance with conditions of the 1852 law. When an easement is abandoned, rights ordinarily revert to the fee owner and, under the applicable laws, plaintiffs acquired any right-of-way a year and a day after the abandonment. The county was aware of the abandonment and considered buying the easement from the railroad at that time, but "waited a quarter of a century and then claimed a right to obtain the right of way for nothing." View "Johnson v. Bayfield County" on Justia Law