CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : BLYTHE : PUC Tells Railway to Restore Service

The state Public Utilities Commission ordered the Santa Fe Railway to resume hauling truck trailers on flatcars on a rail line through the southeastern California desert. The PUC said the railway closed its loading ramps at Blythe in Riverside County in August with only four days’ notice to local governments and shippers. The spur line, which runs from Ripley, south of Blythe, about 80 miles north to the Santa Fe main line at Cadiz in San Bernardino County, has served the Palo Verde, Coachella and Imperial valleys for many years, the commission said. The discounted service allowed truckers to load more than 6,000 trailers a year onto flatcars at Blythe for shipment. Santa Fe said the service was no longer profitable and also argued that the state had no legal authority over service on a spur line that is linked to a federally regulated interstate rail line. The PUC concluded, however, that it had jurisdiction over a spur line within the state and said Santa Fe had failed to document its claim that the service was unprofitable for the railway.