I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2937 
To permit Amtrak to bring civil actions in Federal district court to enforce 
the right set forth in section 24308(c) of title 49, United States Code, 
which gives intercity and commuter rail passenger transportation pref-
erence over freight transportation in using a rail line, junction, or cross-
ing. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 30, 2021 
Mr. PAYNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee 
on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To permit Amtrak to bring civil actions in Federal district 
court to enforce the right set forth in section 24308(c) 
of title 49, United States Code, which gives intercity 
and commuter rail passenger transportation preference 
over freight transportation in using a rail line, junction, 
or crossing. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:08 Jun 09, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2937.IH
H2937
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rail Passenger Fair-
ness Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
(1) Congress created Amtrak under the Rail 
Passenger Service Act of 1970 (Public Law 91– 
158). 
(2) Amtrak began serving customers on May 1, 
1971, taking over the operation of most intercity 
passenger trains that private, freight railroads were 
previously required to operate. In exchange for as-
suming these passenger rail operations, Amtrak was 
given access to the national rail network. 
(3) In return for relief from the obligation to 
provide intercity passenger service, railroads over 
which Amtrak operated (referred to in this section 
as ‘‘host railroads’’) were expected to give Amtrak 
passenger trains preference over freight trains when 
using the national rail network. 
(4) In 1973, Congress passed the Amtrak Im-
provement Act of 1973 (Public Law 93–146), which 
gives intercity and commuter rail passenger trans-
portation preference over freight transportation in 
using a rail line, junction, or crossing. This right, 
which is now codified as section 24308(c) of title 49, 
United States Code, states, ‘‘Except in an emer-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:08 Jun 09, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2937.IH
H2937
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
gency, intercity and commuter rail passenger trans-
portation provided by or for Amtrak has preference 
over freight transportation in using a rail line, junc-
tion, or crossing unless the Board orders otherwise 
under this subsection. A rail carrier affected by this 
subsection may apply to the Board for relief. If the 
Board, after an opportunity for a hearing under sec-
tion 553 of title 5, decides that preference for inter-
city and commuter rail passenger transportation ma-
terially will lessen the quality of freight transpor-
tation provided to shippers, the Board shall establish 
the rights of the carrier and Amtrak on reasonable 
terms.’’. 
(5) Many host railroads have ignored the law 
referred to in paragraph (4) by refusing to give pas-
senger rail the priority to which it is statutorily enti-
tled and giving freight transportation the higher pri-
ority. As a result, Amtrak’s on time performance on 
most host railroads is poor, has declined between 
2014 through 2019, and continues to decline. 
(6) According to Amtrak, 6,500,000 customers 
on State-supported and long-distance trains arrived 
at their destination late during fiscal year 2019. 
Nearly 70 percent of these delays were caused by 
host railroads, amounting to a total of 3,200,000 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:08 Jun 09, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2937.IH
H2937
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
minutes. The largest cause of these delays was 
freight train interference, which accounted for more 
than 1,000,000 minutes of delay for Amtrak pas-
sengers, or approximately 2 years, because host rail-
roads chose to give freight trains priority. 
(7) Poor on-time performance wastes taxpayer 
dollars. According to a 2019 report by Amtrak’s Of-
fice of Inspector General, a 5 percent improvement 
of on-time performance on all Amtrak routes would 
result in $12,100,000 in cost savings to Amtrak in 
the first year. If on-time performance on long-dis-
tance routes reached 75 percent for a year, Amtrak 
would realize an estimated $41,900,000 in operating 
cost 
savings, 
with 
a 
one-time 
savings 
of 
$336,000,000 due to a reduction in equipment re-
placement needs. 
(8) Historical data suggests that on-time per-
formance on host railroads is driven by the existence 
of an effective means to enforce Amtrak’s preference 
rights: 
(A) Two months after the date of the en-
actment of the Passenger Rail Investment and 
Improvement Act of 2008 (division B of Public 
Law 110–432), which included provisions for 
the enforcement of these preference rights, was 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:08 Jun 09, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2937.IH
H2937
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
enacted, the on-time performance of long-dis-
tance trains improved from 56 percent to 77 
percent and Class I freight train interference 
delays across all routes declined by 40 percent. 
(B) One year after such date of enactment, 
freight train interference delays had declined by 
54 percent and the on-time performance of 
long-distance trains reached 85 percent. 
(C) In 2014, after some of the provisions 
in the Passenger Rail Investment and Improve-
ment Act of 2008 related to enforcement of 
preference were ruled unconstitutional by a 
D.C. Circuit Court, long-distance train on-time 
performance declined from 72 percent to 50 
percent, and freight train interference delays in-
creased 59 percent. 
(D) The last time long-distance trains 
achieved an on-time rate of more than 80 per-
cent in a given month was February 2012. 
(9) As a result of violations of Amtrak’s right 
to preference, Amtrak has been consistently unable 
on host railroad networks to meet its congressionally 
mandated mission and goals, which are codified in 
section 24101 of title 49, United States Code (relat-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:08 Jun 09, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2937.IH
H2937
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
ing to providing on-time and trip-time competitive 
service to its passengers). 
(10) Amtrak does not have an effective mecha-
nism to enforce its statutory preference right in 
order to fulfill its mission and goals. Only the Attor-
ney General can bring a civil action for equitable re-
lief in a district court of the United States to en-
force Amtrak’s preference rights. 
(11) In Amtrak’s entire history, the only en-
forcement action initiated by the Attorney General 
was against the Southern Pacific Transportation 
Company in 1979. 
(12) Congress supports continued authority for 
the Attorney General to initiate an action, but Am-
trak should also be entitled to bring a civil action be-
fore a Federal district court to enforce its statutory 
preference rights. 
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZE AMTRAK TO BRING A CIVIL ACTION TO 
ENFORCE IT PREFERENCE RIGHTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 24308(c) of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended, by adding at the end the 
following: ‘‘Notwithstanding sections 24103(a) and 
24308(f), Amtrak shall have the right to bring an action 
for equitable or other relief in the United States District 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:08 Jun 09, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2937.IH
H2937
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
Court for the District of Columbia to enforce the pref-
erence rights granted under this subsection.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 24103 of 
title 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘and 
section 24308(c)’’ before ‘‘, only the Attorney General’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:08 Jun 09, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H2937.IH
H2937
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS