by Jeff Smith
From: Trains Newswire
If there was a previous topic on this specific proposal, I couldn't find it.
If there was a previous topic on this specific proposal, I couldn't find it.
UPDATE: FRA issues proposed rules on bidding out long-distance Amtrak routes
WASHINGTON — Amtrak’s 45-year near monopoly on overnight passenger trains could end based on a proposal announced today by the Federal Railroad Administration to introduce a pilot program allowing independent entities to run long-distance trains on as many as three routes.
...
Among the key elements of the proposal are:
• The winning bidder would assume the “right and obligation” to operate intercity passenger service over a specific route, and receive an operating subsidy not to exceed 90 percent of that provided to Amtrak for that route during the preceding year. The initial contract for each route would extend for four years, with extension subject to transportation department approval.
• Amtrak would be obligated to provide the new operator with access to its own reservation system, stations, and facilities.
• Employees of a new operator would be subject to laws and regulations governing current similar Amtrak employees, and winning bidders must provide hiring preference to displaced, qualified Amtrak workers.
• If an alternate operator fails to provide service, the transportation department, in collaboration with the Surface Transportation Board, would “take any necessary action consistent with the FAST Act to enforce the contract and to ensure the continued provision of service.”
Next stop, Willoughby
~el Jefe :: RAILROAD.NET Site Administrator/Co-Owner; Carman at Naugatuck Railroad
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~el Jefe :: RAILROAD.NET Site Administrator/Co-Owner; Carman at Naugatuck Railroad
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