---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 55117"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "55117"
heading: "Great Lakes rail route"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/55117"
units:
  - "Subtitle V — Merchant Marine"
  - "Part D — Promotional Programs"
  - "Chapter 551 — Coastwise Trade"
---

# §55117. Great Lakes rail route


[Section 55102 of this title](/usc/46/55102.md) does not apply to the transportation of merchandise loaded on a railroad car or to a motor vehicle with or without a trailer, and with its passengers or contents when accompanied by the operator, when the railroad car or motor vehicle is transported in a railroad car [ferry](/usc/46/2101.md?p=10) operated between fixed terminals on the Great Lakes as part of a rail route, if—

- (1) the car [ferry](/usc/46/2101.md?p=10) is owned by a common carrier by water and operated as part of a rail route with the approval of the Surface Transportation Board;
- (2) the stock of the common carrier by water, or its predecessor, was owned or controlled by a common carrier by rail prior to June 5, 1920;
- (3) the stock of the common carrier owning the car [ferry](/usc/46/2101.md?p=10) is, with the approval of the Board, now owned or controlled by a common carrier by rail; and
- (4) the car [ferry](/usc/46/2101.md?p=10) is built in and documented under the laws of the [United States](/usc/46/53101.md?p=10).

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 109–304, § 8(c), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1640.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 55117 | 46 App.:883 (5th proviso). | June 5, 1920, ch. 250, § 27, as added Apr. 11, 1935, ch. 58, 49 Stat. 154. |