Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. United States
Opinion of the Court
This is a suit under Title 28 U.S.C. § 2284 and § 2321-2325 to set aside a Report and Order of the Interstate Commerce Commission which authorized the construction and operation by the Permian Basin Railroad Co., of a railroad line between Odessa and Seagraves, Texas. Plaintiffs contend that the Commission made insufficient findings and that such findings as it made were not supported by substantial evidence.
Upon the filing of an application by the Permian Basin Railroad Company an I. C. C. examiner conducted extensive hearings and compiled a 43-page report recommending that the application be denied. That recommendation was based primarily on his conclusion that the proposed railroad would not attract freight business in sufficient volume to operate at a profit.
Nevertheless, plaintiffs complain that the Commission’s findings regarding profitability were insufficient in that they were too vague, unsupported by subsidiary findings and lacking a rational basis. We disagree. Although the Commission did not compute a precise estimate of projected revenues and costs for each commodity, it did make an estimate of total revenues and costs, and further, it named the commodities upon which it focused in revising the examiner’s estimate. We believe this to be a sufficient finding of profitability. To require greater specificity of the Commission in predicting the unpredictable is in our view unnecessary.
In addition, it should be noted that profitability is only one factor, albeit a major one, to be considered. The ultimate question is public convenience and necessity. The presence of a great need in the Permian Basin for the proposed railroad balanced against only a minimal threat of hardship to other carriers provides an adequate basis for the Commission’s order, irrespective of profitability. Construction of Line by Wenatchee Southern Ry. Co., 90 ICC 237 (1924).
The order of the commission is hereby approved, the temporary injunction entered November 6, 1967 is dissolved, and all further relief prayed for by plaintiffs is denied.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The ATCHISON, TOPEKA AND SANTA FE RAILWAY COMPANY, the Texas and Pacific Railway Company and the Texas and Pacific Motor Transport Company v. The UNITED STATES of America, and the Interstate Commerce Commission
- Status
- Published