§10503. Railroad and water transportation connections and rates

(a) When a rail carrier and a water common carrier may or do provide jointly, transportation, not entirely in one State from a place in the United States to another place in the United States, even if part of the transportation is outside the United States, the Interstate Commerce Commission has the following jurisdiction over that transportation:

(1) To establish a physical connection between the railroad lines of the rail carrier and the dock at which an interchange is to be made, the Commission may-

(A) require the rail carrier to make a suitable connection between its lines and tracks that have been constructed from the dock to the limits of the railroad right-of-way;

(B) subject to the same restrictions on findings of public convenience and necessity and other matters that are imposed on construction under sections 10901, 10902, and 10907 of this title, require the rail carrier or water common carrier, or both, to construct to the dock at least one track connecting with the lines of the rail carrier;

(C) determine and prescribe the conditions under which a connecting track is to be operated; and

(D) in the construction or operation of the track, determine the sum to be paid to, or by, either carrier.

(2) The Commission may-

(A) prescribe proportional rates, maximum proportional rates, minimum proportional rates, or maximum and minimum proportional rates, of a rail carrier to and from the ports to which the passengers or property is transported by the water common carrier; and

(B) determine the passengers, property, vessels, and on which conditions those rates apply.

In this paragraph, "proportional rates" means those rates that differ from the corresponding local rates to and from a port and apply only to passengers or property brought to the port or carried from the port by a water common carrier.

(b) The Commission may act under this section only after a full hearing. An order entered as the result of an action may be conditioned on giving security for the payment of an amount of money or the discharge of an obligation that is required to be paid or discharged under that order.

( Pub. L. 95–473, Oct. 17, 1978, 92 Stat. 1360 .)

In the introductory matter of subsection (a), before paragraph (1), the words "passengers or property" are omitted as unnecessary in view of the definition of transportation that includes passengers and property. The words "the limits of" are omitted as surplus. The words "rail carrier and a water common carrier" are substituted for "by rail and water . . . by a common carrier or carriers" to eliminate redundancy and for consistency with 49:1 (1) and (2) that have used the terms "rail carrier" and "water carrier" (meaning "water common carrier") since the enactment of the original provision in 1912. The word "jointly" is inserted for clarity. The words "even if part of the transportation is outside the United States" is substituted for "through the Panama Canal or otherwise" as being more precise. See United States v. New York Central R.R., 272 U.S. 457, 1926; Penn. R.R. Co. v. United States, 55 F. Supp. 473, 484, D.C.N.J., 1943, reversed in part on other grounds, 323 U.S. 612, 1945. The words "in the following particulars, in addition to the jurisdiction given by this chapter" are omitted as surplus. The words "and of the carriers" are omitted as surplus and for consistency with other jurisdictional statements of chapter 105 of the revised title.

In subsection (a)(2), the words "passengers or property" are substituted for "traffic" for consistency with the definition of transportation.

In subsection (a)(2)(A), the word "transported" is substituted for "brought, or from which the passengers or property is taken" for simplicity.

In subsection (b), the word "complaint" is omitted as unnecessary. The words "upon formal complaint or in proceedings instituted by the Commission of its own motion" are omitted as surplus.