Rail Passenger Fairness Act
Bill: S.1500 | Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. (D-IL)
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
Rail Passenger Fairness Act
This bill authorizes the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) to bring a civil action in a U. S. District Court to enforce its preference rights over freight transportation in using a rail line, junction, or crossing.

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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rail Passenger Fairness 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 assuming 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 Improvement Act of 
        1973 (Public Law 93-146), which gives intercity and commuter 
        rail passenger transportation 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 emergency, 
        intercity and commuter rail passenger transportation provided 
        by or for Amtrak has preference over freight transportation in 
        using a rail line, junction, 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 section 553 of 
        title 5, decides that preference for intercity and commuter 
        rail passenger transportation materially will lessen the 
        quality of freight transportation 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 passenger rail the priority 
        to which it is statutorily entitled and giving freight 
        transportation the higher priority. 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 minutes. The largest cause of these delays was 
        freight train interference, which accounted for more than 
        1,000,000 minutes of delay for Amtrak passengers, or 
        approximately 2 years, because host railroads chose to give 
        freight trains priority.
            (7) Poor on-time performance wastes taxpayer dollars. 
        According to a 2019 report by Amtrak's Office 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-
        distance 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 replacement needs.
            (8) Historical data suggests that on-time performance 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 enactment 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 enacted, the on-time performance of long-
                distance 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 Improvement 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 
                increased 59 percent.
                    (D) The last time long-distance trains achieved an 
                on-time rate of more than 80 percent 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 (relating to providing on-time and trip-time 
        competitive service to its passengers).
            (10) Amtrak does not have an effective mechanism to enforce 
        its statutory preference right in order to fulfill its mission 
        and goals. Only the Attorney General can bring a civil action 
        for equitable relief in a district court of the United States 
        to enforce Amtrak's preference rights.
            (11) In Amtrak's entire history, the only enforcement 
        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 Amtrak should also be 
        entitled to bring a civil action before a Federal district 
        court to enforce its statutory preference rights.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZE AMTRAK TO BRING A CIVIL ACTION TO ENFORCE ITS 
              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 
Court for the District of Columbia to enforce the preference 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''.
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