Title 45RailroadsRelease 119-73

§906 Guarantee of trustee certificates

Title 45 › Chapter CHAPTER 18— - MILWAUKEE RAILROAD RESTRUCTURING › § 906

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Transportation must immediately guarantee trustee certificates for the Milwaukee Railroad under the Emergency Rail Services Act of 1970. That guarantee lets the railroad keep its whole system running starting November 1, 1979 and helps pay for operations it continues for the 60-day period that begins on the date of the event in section 920(b) or on April 1, 1980, whichever comes first. The guarantee will be made even if some usual findings or limits in the Emergency Rail Services Act are not met. The amount guaranteed will equal the railroad’s expenses for maintaining and continuing service under the rule above minus the railroad’s revenues. The guaranteed certificates will be behind (subordinate to) any creditor claims that existed on November 4, 1979. The Commission must immediately provide $10,000,000 from directed service funds, and the Secretary must immediately give those funds to the trustee to finance operations starting November 1, 1979. Any obligations to the United States made under this guarantee will be forgiven when the railroad is reorganized as an operating carrier or when “substantially all” is bought — which means more than 50 percent of the rail system in service on October 14, 1980 is purchased and more than 50 percent of the employees from that date have found work with other rail carriers.

Full Legal Text

Title 45, §906

Railroads — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)
(d)The Secretary of Transportation shall, under the authority of the Emergency Rail Services Act of 1970 [45 U.S.C. 661 et seq.], immediately guarantee trustee certificates of the Milwaukee Railroad, on the basis of an estimate of the amount required to be provided under subsection (e) of this section, for purposes of allowing the Milwaukee Railroad, commencing November 1, 1979, to maintain its entire railroad system in accordance with section 920 of this title, and as required to finance operations which the Milwaukee Railroad continues for the 60-day period beginning on the date of the occurrence of an event described in section 920(b) of this title or on April 1, 1980, whichever first occurs. Such guarantee shall be made without regard to the findings set forth in section 3(a) of the Emergency Rail Services Act of 1970 [45 U.S.C. 662(a)], and the provisions of section 3(b)(3) [45 U.S.C. 662(b)(3)] and the last two sentences of section 3(d) of such Act [45 U.S.C. 662(d)] shall not apply to such guarantee.
(e)The Secretary shall guarantee trustee certificates of the Milwaukee Railroad pursuant to this section in an amount equal to the difference between (1) the total expenses incurred by such railroad attributable to the maintenance and the continuation of service in accordance with subsection (d) of this section, and (2) the revenues of such railroad.
(f)Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3(c) of the Emergency Rail Services Act of 1970 [45 U.S.C. 662(c)], certificates guaranteed under this chapter shall be subordinated to the claims of any creditors of the Milwaukee Railroad as of November 4, 1979.
(g)The Commission shall immediately make available to the Secretary of Transportation the sum of $10,000,000, out of funds available for directed service under title 49. The Secretary of Transportation shall immediately make such funds available to the trustee of the Milwaukee Railroad for purposes of financing the operations of the Milwaukee Railroad, beginning November 1, 1979, in accordance with section 920 of this title.
(h)(1)All obligations to the United States or any agency or instrumentality of the United States incurred pursuant to this section by the Milwaukee Railroad or the trustee of the property of the Milwaukee Railroad shall be waived and canceled when—
(A)the Milwaukee Railroad is reorganized as an operating rail carrier; or
(B)substantially all of the Milwaukee Railroad is purchased.
(2)For purposes of this subsection, substantially all of the Milwaukee Railroad shall be considered as having been purchased when (A) more than 50 percent of the rail system operated by the Milwaukee Railroad on October 14, 1980, has been purchased, and (B) more than 50 percent of the employees employed by the Milwaukee Railroad on October 14, 1980, have obtained employment with other rail carriers.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Emergency Rail Services Act of 1970, referred to in subsec. (d), is Pub. L. 91–663, Jan. 8, 1971, 84 Stat. 1975, which is classified generally to chapter 15 (§ 661 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 661 of this title and Tables. Directed service under title 49, referred to in subsec. (g), probably refers to directed service under section 11125 of Title 49, Transportation, prior to the general amendment of subtitle IV of Title 49, by Pub. L. 104–88, § 102(a). Codification Subsecs. (a) to (c) of this section amended section 662 of this title.

Amendments

1980—Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 96–448 added subsec. (h).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1980 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–448 effective Oct. 14, 1980, see section 710(d) of Pub. L. 96–448, set out as a note under section 1170 of Title 11, Bankruptcy. Abolition of Interstate Commerce Commission and

Transfer of Functions

Interstate Commerce Commission abolished and functions of Commission transferred, except as otherwise provided in Pub. L. 104–88, to Surface Transportation Board effective Jan. 1, 1996, by section 1302 of Title 49, Transportation, and section 101 of Pub. L. 104–88, set out as a note under section 1301 of Title 49. References to Interstate Commerce Commission deemed to refer to Surface Transportation Board, a member or employee of the Board, or Secretary of Transportation, as appropriate, see section 205 of Pub. L. 104–88, set out as a note under section 1301 of Title 49.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

45 U.S.C. § 906

Title 45Railroads

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73