Politico’s Morning Transportation: STB dismissed two complaints filed by Amtrak

April 16, 2018
By LAUREN GARDNER, With help from Brianna Gurciullo and Stephanie Beasley, Politico Morning Transportation; April 16, 2018TWO DOORS CLOSE: STB dismissed two complaints filed by Amtrak since 2012 against three freight railroads for what it alleged was shoddy on-time performance for two of its services, your MT host writes. The writing was on the wall for this — Amtrak recently signaled to the board that it didn’t oppose the freights’ requests for STB to dismiss the investigation requests. And the legal authority Amtrak has relied upon to try to compel the investigations has been subject to years of scrutiny in the courts, which is a big reason why it’s taken so long for there to be any resolution. Amtrak is free to refile complaints in the future, but CEO Richard Anderson recently told lawmakers that Congress should allow the railroad a private right of action to allow it to go to court to advocate for its preference rights, particularly since the STB’s enforcement mechanism hasn’t worked for the company.

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