Barahona v. Union Pacific Railroad

OPINION

BLOCK, District Judge:

For more than half a century, the Union Pacific Railroad (“Union Pacific”) has leased land under 1,800 miles of its right of way to Santa Fe Pacific Pipelines, L.P. (“SFPP”), which uses the land for a petroleum pipeline. In a suit by landowners challenging Union Pacific’s ability to lease the land, the district court held that (1) the acts of Congress conferring the right of way authorized Union Pacific to use the right of way only for a “railroad purpose,” and (2) the pipeline did not serve such a purpose. It then certified those issues for interlocutory review…