Transportation Law Commons^™

Missing The Train: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal's Weakness On Amtrak's "Preference" Problem, Noah Vincent Desimone

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

While the Trump Administration’s “Infrastructure Week” initiative failed to address U.S. infrastructure needs, the Biden Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal sent a whopping $66 billion to Amtrak to address funding shortfalls. However, the Biden-era bill is ‘weak’ in not adequately addressing Amtrak train delays on the freight railroads on which nearly all Amtrak trains run. The delays violate a federal statute providing Amtrak trains preference over freight trains on freight railroads’ tracks. The current scheme of addressing violations includes proceedings by the Surface Transportation Board and rare enforcement by the Department of Justice. A solution is to add a third option …