Southern Pacific Transportation Company v. Interstate Commerce Commission United States of America, County of El Dorado, Respondent-Intervenor

Southern Pacific Transportation Co. (“SPT”) petitions this court for reversal of an Interstate Commerce Commission (“ICC”) order denying SPT’s application to abandon a branch railroad line. I would reverse and remand, on the grounds that the ICC’s decision failed to establish a rational link between facts found and decision made on two issues: Opportunity costs, and prospects for growth in traffic.

I

From Folsom Junction, California, near Sacramento, a branch railroad line winds some thirty-eight miles into the foothills of Sierra Nevada mountains to the small town of Placerville. A century…