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TRAINS: David Lassen
Thursday morning rail news:
Metra, Amtrak ask Surface Transportation Board for more mediation time
Saying they have made progress in their dispute over Metra’s lease at Chicago Union Station, Metra and Amtrak have requested more time from the Surface Transportation Board for mediation. In a letter filed Nov. 2, Metra’s attorney, filing on behalf of both parties, asked for an extension of the mediation period through Dec. 4. That period had ended Oct. 30. The letter from attorney Robert A. Wimbush says the two sides “have made significant progress” in mediation and believe “further mediation would benefit them and the Board by facilitating further agreement. … Mediation has already resolved certain issues, and may yet resolve all others” that are part of the process. Any unresolved issues would be brought to the board on or after Dec. 4, the letter says. The board ordered mediation in July after Amtrak brought the matter before the STB in May — the third time it had returned to the agency [see “Amtrak asks STB to settle dispute with Metra …,” Trains News Wire, May 28, 2020].
The head of a committee working to preserve service on the Huron Central Railway says all parties are in serious discussions, “and that is what we have been asking for, for some time.” The Sudbury Star reports that Joe Fratesi, chair of the committee of stakeholders, says he remains reasonably confident a deal can be reached before the Dec. 18 date that Genesee & Wyoming says it will shut down the line between Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and Sudbury. He said local elected officials and the Prime Minister’s office are involved in the talks, along with federal and provincial transportation officials. G&W said earlier this year it would shut down the line without some $40 million in government funding, and has given the railroad’s 43 employees notice of their impending job termination [see “Digest: Huron Central, preparing for shutdown …,” News Wire, Nov. 4, 2020].
Caltrain hails passage of measure providing dedicated funding