Bullock sues BNSF to cover some rail costs

BILLINGS (AP)

Attorneys for Montana have filed a lawsuit against Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company for failing to live up to a 1984 agreement that the state says requires the company to pay some grain shipping costs in central Montana. BNSF had agreed to pay a state-designated rail operator for each carload of grain shipped between Geraldine and Lewistown. The agreement was made as part of a bankruptcy settlement. It was meant to keep the line in operation and ensure BNSF did not have a monopoly in the region. But Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock says BNSF has stopped making payments under the 1984 agreement. In a Nov. 10 lawsuit filed in Fergus County, he asks for BNSF to resume the payments and pay for damages.