WASHINGTON—Calling the issue “ripe for adjudication,” the Surface Transportation Board has agreed with Amtrak’s request for expedited hearings to determine what, if any, infrastructure improvements must occur before it can begin operating between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala.
Amtrak had sought to start two daily round trips along the Norfolk Southern-CSX Transportation route in January 2022 [see “Amtrak asks STB to require CSX, NS to allow Gulf Coast service,” Trains News Wire, March 16, 2021]. The STB’s schedule for discovery, rebuttal, and proposals for a hearing format will conclude Dec. 16, so hearings may not begin until January, and a decision would only be finalized after that. If the STB decides capacity upgrades are necessary before service can start, those would have to be constructed.
But Friday’s STB ruling rejected the host railroads’ argument that the entire process should be delayed until environmental reviews are undertaken, saying “the contemplated additional train operations and infrastructure improvements … would be similar to those all railroads are free to do without Board authority and without environmental review.”
Administrative Law Judge to address disputes
Anticipating disagreements between Amtrak and the host railroads, and to head off attempts to slow the proceedings, the STB appointed Administrative Law Judge Thomas McCarthy “to rule upon discovery matters and to resolve initially all disputes concerning discovery in this proceeding,” It added, “After the discovery period ends, the Board will not look favorably upon requests to pause the procedural schedule to resolve such disputes.”
This is a direct challenge to the unwillingness of CSX and NS to share the changing parameters under which the now-cancelled Rail Traffic Controller modeling study — to determine the ability of the route to handle passenger trains in addition to its current freight traffic — was conducted for more than a year. Amtrak ultimately chose to pursue the start of Gulf Coast service without that study, even though the host railroads insist it must be completed [see “FRA unable to obtain all Gulf Coast capacity data,” News Wire, May 10, 2021].
The STB rejected outright the contention of the railroads and the Port of Mobile that the RTC study needed to be completed before service could begin. But the agency expects it and other evidence, “together with all the inputs, assumptions, and methodologies underlying any study results, including all relevant traffic … will be a part of the record in this proceeding.”
In a statement to Trains News Wire, spokeswoman Cindy Schild says,“CSX is evaluating the decision, but will plan to move forward with the schedule established by the STB.”
Praise from Southern Rail Commission, Amtrak
The Southern Rail Commission and Amtrak, which have worked to secure state cooperation and funding for service east of New Orleans for more than five years, applauded the board’s decision.
Knox Ross, Mississippi‘s SRC Commissioner, says, “We are especially pleased that the STB found no need for an environmental review and set an aggressive hearing schedule to resolve this process within an expeditious timeframe that could meet Amtrak’s stated goal of starting passenger service in January 2022. Our communities are ready for the return daily rail service.”
Amtrak’s statement thanked the STB for its decision to dismiss the CSX and NS “attempt to block Gulf Coast passenger rail service. This upholds Amtrak’s right to petition the Board for rail access and sets a schedule for a transparent process that will produce an outcome by the end of this year.
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