|
|
Post by calzephyr on Apr 29, 2016 14:13:10 GMT -8
Who goes first, Amtrak or a freight train? A court rules
It’s a question that has brought dread to high school math students for generations: "Two trains leave Chicago" on different routes at different speeds, which one will reach St. Louis first? A court ruling may throw a new variable into the mix: Is the train carrying freight or passengers?
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday struck down a 2008 law intended to make sure that Amtrak passenger trains arrived on time, even if that meant freight trains had to cool their heels while Amtrak rushed through.
Just who will ultimately decide the fate of passengers versus freight — the Supreme Court or Congress — wasn't immediately clear after the latest round in a five-year court battle that the freight railroads have waged against Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).
To understand the case and the ruling requires a trip back to the creation of Amtrak in 1970. With the nation's private passenger rail service in crisis, Congress stepped in to establish a unique corporation to take over from the faltering rail lines. It created a private, for-profit company that was endowed with extraordinary powers, all in the interest of revitalizing passenger rail service in an era that saw airlines stealing travelers away.
Among those powers: Amtrak got priority over the freight rail trains when it came to scheduling. This despite the fact that the freight railroads own and maintain the entire U.S. rail system outside the Northeast corridor. Congress decided it needed to clarify just what that meant in 2008, so it passed another law that said Amtrak and the FRA should come up with a way of defining "priority." And, Congress said, if the freight railroads did anything to violate those defining metrics, Amtrak could appeal to the federal Surface Transportation Board for relief.
Amtrak and the FRA decided that if 80 percent of Amtrak's trains got to the station on schedule everything would be copacetic.
Welcome aboard! Steam locomotives have been around since 1800s, and now we're getting Bullet Trains! See where train technology has been, and where it's going!
See more videos
The freight railroad trade group, the Association of American Railroads (AAR), filed suit in 2011. The case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, which sent it back to the D.C. appeals court.
The appeals court ruled on Friday that the law was unfair because it allowed Amtrak a hand in setting the rules for the industry of which it was a part. In essence, Amtrak was playing the role of a regulator rather than a competitor for the right to use the rail lines.
After the ruling came down, none of the parties — the AAR, Amtrak or the FRA — said they were sure what step came next.
Amtrak issued a statement saying it was disappointed by the ruling.
"The members of Congress from both parties who approved that law intended to ensure that Amtrak trains receive priority over freight trains. We hope that this legal morass will be resolved soon," the Amtrak statement said.
The AAR applauded the court's determination that "there was a fundamental constitutional flaw in allowing Amtrak to regulate freight railroads."
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2016 10:01:20 GMT -8
Passenger trains should always go first. People are worth more than cargo!
|
|
|
|
Post by edwardsutorik on Apr 30, 2016 20:26:21 GMT -8
People ARE cargo.
And when they actually pay for the right to go first, they go. First.
And when they don't, they can enjoy the lovely view. For free.
Ed
|
|
|
|
Post by fr8kar on Apr 30, 2016 21:42:08 GMT -8
What I can't figure out is why when the cargo is people, only one set of eyes on the head end is good enough, but when the cargo is freight - or nothing at all, in the case of an empty coal or empty grain train - two sets of eyes are required. Clearly people as cargo are less valuable or less important than freight. |
|
|
|
Post by Brakie on Apr 30, 2016 23:13:20 GMT -8
Amtrak has been a pain since its beginning.. Since they pay to use the track of the host railroads and seldom on time they should wait. Shipping giants like UPS, USPS, power plants, tide coal that demand just in time delivery wants their trains on time and could careless for any excuse why the train was late. These are the money makers not the Amtrak fees.
If I had to get from point A to point B in a hurry I would fly since I might have to wait hours between connecting trains or may have to travel certain days to make those connections.
|
|
|
|
Post by Amboy Secondary on May 1, 2016 9:03:45 GMT -8
There are times when the AAR speaks out of both sides of their mouth, depending on what is to the advantage of their client members. BTW, Amtrak is a full member of the AAR. Amtrak, has no qualms delaying freight trains paying to operate on Amtrak owned trackage, but doesn't appreciate the favor returned. Congress, of course, is always speaking to the audience, whom ever they may be at the time.
What we really need to do, as a nation, is decide what sort of ground transportation, system we want, finance it and run it, or not...
Of course, when the freight railroads ran their own passenger operation, the passenger train ran first. Realistically, it is possible for the railroads to schedule their operations to accommodate both services without delays or interference, but they don't choose to. Lots of reasons, for that, some actually valid. Only ones making out in this litigation, are the attorneys.
|
|
|
|
Post by Brakie on May 1, 2016 9:25:25 GMT -8
If Amtrak ran on time maybe the railroads would be more helpful but,when the Late (aka Lake) Shore Limited is its usual two hours late why stop your hot intermodal trains?
BTW. Amtrak been chugging along for 45 years.
Wonder what the Professional Iconoclast would say if he was still writing columns for Trains Magazine? Would the header for his column be "The Big Lie of '71 Still Rolls On?"
Maybe the Potomac Prudent will have something to say?
|
|
|
|
Post by Gary P on May 2, 2016 2:35:13 GMT -8
My 2 cents - FWIW. Since I don't believe Amtrak is paying their full share of the costs of ownership and maintenance of the rails they ride on, why should they have priority over other cargo that is paying? If Amtrak were to pay up, then they can complain about access.
|
|
|
|
Post by scl1234 on May 2, 2016 12:30:21 GMT -8
Well, Amtrak is Gov't subsidized; the railroads largely are not. So there's that (..and that's about as political as I'll get on a Model Rail forum).
|
|
|
|
Post by gasmith on May 3, 2016 11:56:58 GMT -8
My 2 cents - FWIW. Since I don't believe Amtrak is paying their full share of the costs of ownership and maintenance of the rails they ride on, why should they have priority over other cargo that is paying? If Amtrak were to pay up, then they can complain about access. A few years ago, NS claimed they made more profit hauling 1 piggyback trailer from Harrisburg to Chicago than they made handling the Broadway Limited over the same route. |
|
|
|
Post by Amboy Secondary on May 3, 2016 15:32:16 GMT -8
My 2 cents - FWIW. Since I don't believe Amtrak is paying their full share of the costs of ownership and maintenance of the rails they ride on, why should they have priority over other cargo that is paying? If Amtrak were to pay up, then they can complain about access. A few years ago, NS claimed they made more profit hauling 1 piggyback trailer from Harrisburg to Chicago than they made handling the Broadway Limited over the same route. Railroads say a lot of things for public consumption, like every other business, they are always going broke, all because of labor costs, regulation and any thing else they can pin blame on...Yet their pitch to investors, tells a totally different story. NS, BTW, has a better Amtrak OT record than CSX or UP. They don't lose any money hosting Amtrak trains either. Amtrak's biggest problem is that they are a Government agency, pretending to be a private, for profit company...sort of like a non-profit company creating for profit subsidy(s), but with different results. From what I could tell, when I worked there, most of the annual appropriation, was was used for government mandates and regulatory compliance, not for train operation. There were actual attempts at cost containment and efficiency in NEC operations, but little of any in non operational categories. |
|
|
|
Post by Amboy Secondary on May 3, 2016 15:39:48 GMT -8
If Amtrak ran on time maybe the railroads would be more helpful but,when the Late (aka Lake) Shore Limited is its usual two hours late why stop your hot intermodal trains? BTW. Amtrak been chugging along for 45 years. Wonder what the Professional Iconoclast would say if he was still writing columns for Trains Magazine? Would the header for his column be "The Big Lie of '71 Still Rolls On?" Maybe the Potomac Prudent will have something to say? It's usually not about stopping the hot intermodal trains, more like not spending the capital to modernize and upgrade choke points that stop the intermodal trains along with the Amtrak train. (Think Acca on CSX at Richmond VA). It's like the old proverb of placing tend pounds of sand  in a five pound bag. One can only cut so much infastructure, before it cripples your operation. |
|
|
|
Post by stevef45 on May 6, 2016 20:21:49 GMT -8
Let's see, passenger train going 79mph that will zip past a long freight on a siding or have a lumbering freight at 30mph crawl past said passenger train on a siding. Kinda stupid that the freight carriers wouldn't just let amtrak go.
|
|
|
|
Post by Brakie on May 6, 2016 23:22:34 GMT -8
Let's see, passenger train going 79mph that will zip past a long freight on a siding or have a lumbering freight at 30mph crawl past said passenger train on a siding. Kinda stupid that the freight carriers wouldn't just let amtrak go. Steve,Railroads never wanted Amtrak on their rails but,was that was one of the requirements for freight railroads to dump all money losing passenger trains. With rail shipments at a all time high and terminal dwell time woes Amtrak ended up in the back seat-My trains go-you wait. A prime example would be Fosteria,Oh. I seen NS trains wait until a CSX train cleared--even if it was a 30 minute or longer wait. |
|
