U.S. Western Railroads Seek InjunctiveRelief.

FORT WORTH, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 6, 1997--The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. (BNSF), Union Pacific Railroad Co. (UP) and Southern Pacific Transportation Co. (owned by UP), today filed in Federal District Court in San Francisco a complaint seeking injunctive and declaratory

"Safety is BNSF's number one priority, and assuring safe operations in California and in all the states where BNSF operates is of paramount importance," the company stated.

The western railroads had tried to work with the CPUC to reach some accommodations regarding CPUC's new rules which cover seven aspects of railroad operations: the configuration of train cars (train makeup); use of dynamic brakes and end-of-train telemetry devices; employee training; trackside defect detectors; track standards, and whistleblower protection.

However, BNSF and the other western railroads were unable to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement. Hence, as a last resort, it was necessary to file this lawsuit.

CPUC's new rules are scheduled to become effective Dec. 2, 1997.

The Federal Railroad Administration has adopted a uniform set of safety standards, which they enforce throughout the United States, and with the CPUC in California. A patchwork of differing state regulations governing rail operations would destroy rail's efficiency in interstate commerce.

According to the railroad's complaint, "Railroads have no obligation to comply with the burdensome and unnecessary rules adopted by the CPUC... because they are preempted by the Federal Rail Safety Act or the Locomotive Boiler Inspection Act."

In its September decision, the CPUC unilaterally declared that 19 of the 38 sites that it had identified in preliminary findings in July 1992 as possible hazards were now "local safety hazards." The railroads state in their complaint that, "The CPUC declined to consider post-1991 data in deciding whether it was necessary to adopt safety regulations in 1997.

"The post-1991 data, however, demonstrates that changes in operating conditions dramatically reduced derailments at those sites. In fact, there were no derailments during the five-year period subsequent to 1991 at many of the sites at issue."

BNSF and the other western railroads are willing to meet with the CPUC to keep trying to work out an agreement that will not impose an undue burden on interstate commerce by subjecting the railroads to excessive costs of compliance and potentially conflicting state regulation that is either incompatible with federal standards or preempted by them.

CONTACT: Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co.

Richard A. Russack, 817/352-6425