CSX and Norfolk Southern have asked the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to dismiss Amtrak’s petition asking regulators to force the two Class 1 railroads to allow operation of new Gulf Coast passenger service next year.
The host railroads said Amtrak’s complaint is not “ripe” because they have not refused Amtrak’s proposed service.
In a filing, the two railroads said they want Amtrak to live up to the commitments it made to complete a joint rail traffic controller modeling study to determine the infrastructure that will be required to support the service Amtrak wants to implement.
Amtrak has proposed operating two daily roundtrips between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama.
The filing by NS and CSX also contends that Amtrak has not submitted an environmental and historic report with its STB petition, and that Congress did not give Amtrak any cause of action that could support its demand for an “interim order” allowing it to enter other railroads’ lines to perform preparations for new service before the STB decides whether the new service will be allowed.
Furthermore, the host railroads argued that Amtrak lacks important state support to ensure success of the proposed service.
At the center of the dispute is Amtrak’s withdrawing from a traffic study the host railroads contend must be completed before they will discuss what infrastructure improvements are needed to accommodate passenger service.
For its part, Amtrak contends the railroads hindered completion of the study by changing its parameters as it was being conducted.
The passenger carrier at the time it filed its request with the STB in February said it was seeking to force NS and CSX to demonstrate why they cannot host the proposed service.
In statement released after the host railroads asked the STB to dismiss the case, Amtrak said the matter is being considered by regulators and the intercity passenger carrier “fully anticipate the STB’s process will be both transparent and data driven. We will respond to all filings through that docket.”
At the time that Amtrak went to the STB, an Amtrak spokesman indicated that discussions about instituting the service have been ongoing for five years with no sign of a conclusion in sight.
Amtrak contends that federal law gives it a right of access to the host railroads for the proposed Mobile service.
In the past week, the STB case has also drawn the attention of various Alabama political officials.
Gov. Kay Ivey called for completion of the traffic study, which she said it critical for protecting the economic interests of the Port of Mobile.
Ivey said she wants the STB to order Amtrak to complete the traffic study before considering Amtrak’s application.
The governor’s statement to the STB also said, “Alabama has withheld funding for new Gulf Coast passenger service because of our concern that any economic benefit from new passenger rail service will be outweighed by the potential harm to freight rail service based on the current infrastructure. I am particularly concerned about the impact to the Port of Mobile. . .”
Mobile Port Authority CEO John C. Driscoll also has asked the STB to order Amtrak to complete the traffic study.
Port Officials have long expressed concern that passenger operations will adversely affect CSX freight service to the port.
Driscoll said in his statement that the port authority “does not oppose passenger rail into the City of Mobile, but we do have deep concerns regarding Amtrak’s impact on servicing current freight rail as well as servicing future freight capacity demand in the CSX corridor.”
Until August 2005 Amtrak served Mobile with its tri-weekly Sunset Limited, which operated along the Gulf Coast between New Orleans and Jacksonville, Florida.
Operation of Nos. 1 and 2 east of New Orleans was suspended after the route was damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
Tags: Alabama State Port Authority, Amtrak's Sunset Limited, CSX, Gulf Coast rail service, Hurricane Katrina, Mobile Alabama, New Orleans-Mobile rail service, Norfolk Southern, U.S. Surface Transportation Board
Amtrak in the Heartland 
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