Opinion ID: 378132
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Payment by L & N to Amtrak as Consideration for the Pass

Text: 38 The Railway Passenger Service Act provides that Amtrak shall be reimbursed by the railways for such costs as may be incurred in providing free or reduced-rate passes to the employees of the railways. If the parties cannot agree on the amount of payment, the matter would be referred to the Interstate Commerce Commission. See 45 U.S.C. § 565(f). Defendants report that the Commission awarded Amtrak a reimbursement cost of $.0087 per mile which was approximately $2.00 for plaintiff Thompson's round trip between Nashville, Tennessee and Decatur, Alabama (about 220 miles). 39 The legislative history indicates that Congress did not intend the reimbursement cost to be based on actual fares. It was anticipated that the reimbursement would be minimal since the passes would be issued on space available. See Senate Report, No. 92-756, 92nd Cong., 2d Session, 1972 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News, pp. 2393, 2400. 40 The payment from L & N to Amtrak is similar to a service fee it reimburses Amtrak for expenses in carrying an additional passenger on a train with empty seats, such as issuing the ticket, but Amtrak derives no profit therefrom. Other courts have held that the payment of small fees does not constitute consideration that would make the free pass other than a gratuity. See Sims v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 269 F.Supp. 272, 273 (S.D.Fla.1967) ($45 service charge for plane tickets for plaintiff and family); Richards v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. Co., 226 F.Supp. 812, 814 (S.D.Iowa 1964) ($4.40 for seat reservations on train); Luerssen v. Seaboard Air Line R., 203 F.Supp. 707, 708 (E.D.N.Y.1962) (payment for Pullman accommodation); Braughton v. United Air Lines, Inc., 189 F.Supp. 137, 140-42 (W.D.Mo.1960) (payment of $6.00 service charge for train tickets); Holeman v. Louisville & Nashville R. Co., 319 S.W.2d 47, 48 (Ky.1958), cert. denied, 359 U.S. 1012, 79 S.Ct. 1148, 3 L.Ed.2d 1036 (1959) (purchase of Pullman accommodations). This Court agrees that the payment of such small fees cannot be said to put the passenger traveling on a free pass in the same position vis-a-vis Amtrak as a passenger who paid for his ticket. 41 Since under established law neither plaintiff Thompson's employment nor the payment of the small fee to Amtrak by L & N constitute consideration for the free pass, Thompson was traveling gratuitously and the limitation of liability provision of that pass is valid, and Thompson is barred from all recovery. 42 While it seems harsh that Thompson is barred from recovery while the other plaintiffs are not, this Court can only point to the Supreme Court rationale in Adams, supra: 43 The railway company was not, as to Adams, a carrier for hire. It waived its right as a common carrier to exact compensation. It offered him the privilege of riding in its coaches without charge if he would assume the risks of negligence. He was not in the power of the company and obliged to accept its terms. They stood on an equal footing. If he had desired to hold it to its common law obligations to him as a passenger, he could have paid his fare and compelled the company to receive and carry him. He freely and voluntarily chose to accept the privilege offered; and, having accepted that privilege, cannot repudiate the conditions. It was not a benevolent association, but doing a railroad business for profit; and free passengers are not so many as to induce negligence on its part. So far as the element of contract controls, it was a contract which neither party was bound to enter into, and yet one which each was at liberty to make, and no public policy was violated thereby. 44 Northern Pacific R. Co. v. Adams, 193 U.S. 440, 453, 24 S.Ct. 408, 411, 48 L.Ed. 513 (1904), quoted with approval in Francis v. Southern Pacific Co., 333 U.S. 445, 448 n.2, 68 S.Ct. 611, 612, 92 L.Ed. 798 (1948).