The Surface Transportation Board voted unanimously to vacate a previous decision involving a North Dakota grain elevator and its access to the BNSF Railway. In 2007, the STB allowed Canadian Pacific to acquire 45 miles of rail line in northwest North Dakota from BNSF. With that deal, BNSF was able to serve shippers through a service agreement. In 2020, the STB granted a petition from New Century Ag to reopen the case because the CP limited the number of BNSF cars that could use the interchange. A year later, CP petitioned to board to reconsider, claiming it took ‘an unprecedented step’ to reopen a minor transaction. In the latest decision, the STB approved the CP petition, effectively denying New Century Ag’s request for improved access to BNSF.
