A working group has been created by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to develop plans to enforce on-time performance rules for intercity passenger-rail service.
The STB said the group will oversee a rule formulated in November 2020 by the Federal Railroad Administration that established metrics and minimum standards.
In a news release, the STB said Frank O’Connor will serve as chair of the passenger rail working group.
Frank O’Connor is deputy director of the STB’s Office of Economics.
The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 gave the STB authority to investigate and adjudicate issues related to on-time performance of Amtrak’s intercity service under the new metrics and standards.
Those rules will be implemented on July 1, with quarterly reporting by the FRA to begin the following month.
The FRA rule defines on-time as the arrival of passengers at their destination station no later than 15 minutes after their published scheduled arrival time.
The FRA’s rule requires Amtrak and its host railroads to certify Amtrak schedules and sets an on-time performance minimum standard of 80 percent for any two consecutive calendar quarters.
Under federal law, the STB is authorized to investigate a failure to meet the on-time performance standard, either on its own initiative or upon complaint by Amtrak or another eligible complainant, to determine whether and to what extent that failure is due to causes that could be reasonably addressed by a rail carrier over whose tracks the intercity passenger train operates or by Amtrak or other intercity passenger rail operators.
The STB may identify reasonable measures and make recommendations to improve train service, quality and on-time performance.
Federal regulators may also award damages and prescribe other relief should the STB determine that failure to meet the on-time performance standard was attributable to a host railroad’s failure to provide preference to Amtrak over freight transportation.
The on-time passenger standards have been a decade in the making.
Earlier attempts to create an on-time standard were challenged by the Association of American Railroads in court and the case twice reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
The working group will also “explore the feasibility of creating an office at the STB focused on passenger rail issues and the creation of a Passenger Rail Advisory Committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act,” among other functions.
The test trains evaluated the ability of the new equipment to shunt electric current between rails on CN’s former Illinois Central mainline.
The funding came from the East-West Gateway Council of Governments. The grant will enable the City of Kirkwood and the Historic Kirkwood Train Station Foundation to renovate the former Missouri Pacific depot.
Workers have completed rebuilding an interim accessible platform in Holdrege but passengers boarding trains there will need to park in the city parking lot north of the train station.
Between April 16 and May 1 the following changes will be in effect.
The train has been operating only between Vancouver and Winnipeg for the past several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Appointed was Donald A. Stadtler Jr., who worked at Amtrak for 12 years. His positions at the intercity rail carrier included chief financial officer, chief operations officer, and chief administrative officer.
The district would plan, build, operate and maintain passenger service connecting the major cities along the east side of the Rocky Mountains as well as provide a connection service to Amtrak’s Southwest Chief and California Zephyr.
The project, which affects Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, involves building new tunnels between New Jersey and New York City under the Hudson River while rebuilding the existing tunnels.