STB forms passenger rail working group

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has formed a passenger rail working group, which will be chaired by STB Office of Economics Deputy Director Frank O’Connor and made up of STB staff.

STB will have additional oversight duties of intercity passenger rail metrics and on-time performance following publication last fall of a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) final rule setting measures and minimum standards regarding the quality of service and performance of Amtrak operations. The rule went into effect in December 2020, but the metrics will begin to apply July 1, 2021.

The final rule requires Amtrak and its host railroads to certify Amtrak schedules and sets an on-time performance minimum standard of 80 percent for any two consecutive calendar quarters. A train arriving within 15 minutes of its published arrival time is considered on time. Other metrics that FRA defines in the final rule include ridership, train delays, station performance and host running time.

The metric will be reported by FRA quarterly and under the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA), the STB is tasked with investigating and adjudicating issues related to the on-time performance of Amtrak’s intercity passenger rail service under these new metrics and standards. ............(more)

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/article/21219452/stb-forms-passenger-rail-working-group