Friday morning rail news:
Bob Johnston
Executive order requires masks on trains, transit, other modes of transportation
President Joe Biden has signed an executive order mandating use of face coverings on trains, public transit, planes, intercity busses, and in airports, the Washington Post reports. The newspaper says that order and one signed Wednesday requiring masks on federal property come as close to a national mask mandate as federal powers allow. The order requires federal agencies to “immediately take action” to require passengers to wear masks, although details of when it will take effect and enforcement have yet to be determined. The order reinforces rules already in place on most modes of transportation. The full text of the order is available here.
Union Pacific filing to STB responds to effort to block Tennessee Pass lease
In a Thursday filing with the Surface Transportation Board responding to Colorado Pacific’s effort to block the transaction, Union Pacific refuted the notion that its lease agreement with Colorado, Midland & Pacific Railway for Colorado’s Tennessee Pass is controversial, or that the transaction is not appropriate for the board’s exemption procedure. Thursday’s filing contends “none of the theories put forth” by Colorado Pacific and parent company KCVN [see “Colorado Pacific files objections with STB …,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 11, 2021] “provide a basis for the Board to conclude this is a controversial transaction,” saying that the line’s out-of-service status is irrelevant; that the inclusion of an interchange agreement “does not alter … the competitive landscape;” that it no conditions imposed during the UP/Southern Pacific merger are affected; and that there is no materially false or misleading information, as Colorado Pacific and KCVN have contended. Colorado Pacific had made one attempt to force a sale of the line and was mounting another effort to buy or lease it when UP-Colorado, Midland & Pacific agreement was announced [see “Rio Grande Pacific reaches agreement with UP …,” News Wire, Dec. 31, 2020].
Stimulus money allows Denver RTD to recall laid-off workers
Denver’s Regional Transportation District will begin bringing back train operators, bus drivers, and mechanics, just weeks after laying them off. Colorado Public Radio reports $200 millon in new federal stimulus money is allowing the agency to bring back all full-time workers — although a few declined to return because of individual circumstances — as well as 137 part-time workers. CEO Debra Johnson told an RTD committee meeting Thursday that the workers should begin returning next week.
