by mcgrath618
https://www.railwayage.com/regulatory/a ... ets-septa/
Amtrak is tightening the screws on three commuter operators using its infrastructure—Virginia Railway Express (VRE), Chicago’s Metra and now the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA).Absolutely abhorrent behavior on Amtrak's part.
In 2015, Amtrak lobbyists buried in a 1,030-page highway bill language to redefine its Northeast Corridor (NEC) to include track owned by Amtrak’s Washington Terminal Company. VRE’s contract operator, Keolis Transportation—which won a competitive bid to replace Amtrak years earlier—uses that track to reach Washington Union Station.
Had the provision—which no member of Congress admitted to sponsoring—not been excised after this column exposed the maneuver, it would have undermined VRE’s ability to seek Surface Transportation Board (STB) relief from Amtrak abuse.
In 2018, Amtrak sought to purge the common carrier status of Chicago Union Station (CUS) by merging it into Amtrak. The intent, says Metra, which carries 100,000 passengers weekly and accounts for 83% of CUS arrivals and departures, is to block Metra’s ability to seek STB relief were Amtrak to impose discriminatory access fees. A Metra challenge is pending before the STB.
Amtrak just can’t stop emulating 19th century railroad tycoons—termed “robber barons” in 1859 by The New York Times. Amtrak’s latest assault on the public interest is directed at SEPTA, which operates over Amtrak’s NEC some 200 daily commuter trains serving 40 stations and carrying 12 million passengers annually. Amtrak has sued SEPTA in federal court to end SEPTA’s rights to operate over the NEC. Success would allow Amtrak unilaterally to impose hefty station-rent increases, or sell or lease the stations for commercial development.
SEPTA’s opposition relies on a congressional mandate laid out in at least three statutes—the 1973 Regional Rail Reorganization (3-R) Act, the 1976 Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform (4-R) Act, and the 1981 Northeast Railroad Service Act (NERSA). They created and transferred to SEPTA and other NEC commuter railroads permanent rights to operate over the NEC and use the
passenger stations.
In exchange, SEPTA bears all station costs directly, and pays Amtrak for use of its tracks under congressionally established cost allocations. SEPTA says it invested more than $228 million over the past 15 years in station capital improvements. Amtrak pays nothing toward six stations SEPTA and Amtrak share.
Last edited by Jeff Smith on Fri Jun 21, 2019 10:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Updated title