WASHINGTON – The Surface Transportation Board has created a passenger rail office that will be responsible for investigating and analyzing Amtrak on-time performance on host railroads.
The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 authorizes the STB to investigate the causes of substandard passenger rail on-time performance, to identify mitigating measures, and, under specified conditions, to prescribe relief.
In late 2020, the Federal Railroad Administration, in conjunction with Amtrak, promulgated a “Customer OTP” metric to measure passenger rail on-time performance, with a minimum standard of 80% of passenger arrivals at stations to occur within 15 minutes of the scheduled time for any two consecutive calendar quarters.
Complaints may be brought by Amtrak, by an entity for which Amtrak operates intercity passenger rail service, by an intercity passenger rail operator, or by a host freight railroad over which Amtrak operates.
“The creation of the Office of Passenger Rail is the next step in a carefully planned strategy for the Board to meet its responsibility to investigate and enforce Amtrak on-time performance,” STB Chairman Martin J. Oberman said in a statement on Thursday. “The agency stands ready to handle any on-time performance cases that are filed. We are fully analyzing the quarterly data provided by the FRA, and we are developing a basis for determining whether any Board-initiated investigations may be necessary. The other Board members and I look forward to working closely with Amtrak and the freight railroads in the nation’s effort to improve its passenger rail system.”
In a statement Thursday afternoon, Amtrak said it “welcomes the Board’s enhanced focus on Amtrak on-time performance, an important issue for our service reliability and something our customers have a right to expect. We look forward to working closely with the STB’s new Office of Passenger Rail to enforce the FRA’s performance standards for intercity passenger rail.
“We will also participate on the STB’s new passenger rail advisory committee. This will provide an opportunity for issues to be elevated and resolved before they require an investigation.”
— Updated at 7:40 p.m. CDT with Amtrak statement.
Oh, wonderful. Here we go funding even more bureaucrats who will end up doing essentially nothing.
Yay!
There WAS a branch of the then-ICC that handled passenger complaints in the early Amtrak years: The ICC Adequacy of Service Bureau. This was in the early years when the first NRPC President had come from the aviation industry with also Federal bureaucratic time. [does this sound familiar?]
You filled out a paper form and sent it to ICC. They actually replied. Things got better but a good number of the trains were operated by Penn Central with PC equipment.
The OTP metrics need to be weighted by the number of passengers using each stop. Smaller stops with fewer passengers boarding/detraining should not count the same as the larger stops with more passengers.
So does this mean nobody in the STB had been investigating the causes of Amtrak delays on host railroads since 1971? Wow, I know Amtrak gets short shrift but that is ridiculous.
This is what you get when governments (state and federal) try to do something that in ordinary circumstances would be better left to the private sector. I hope and pray that Brightline will be a roaring success so that maybe someone might come up with a way to get Amtrak out from under the burden of politics and governmental incompetence. Nationalization is the LAST thing you want to happen; the result would be even worse than it is now under PSR. We learned that lesson during World War 1. Of course, they don’t teach history anymore in the schools which is why so many young people think socialism is a good idea.
Yeah, because the nationalized railroads in Europe are so terrible…Public transport should be a public service, not only for profit.
I don’t want to think it’s the only answer, but the freight railroads keeping making the case for wide scale nationalization of the class 1s. Bring back Conrail!
There’s a big difference between 15 minutes late and 6 or 12 hours late, but the metrics don’t measure that.
What will come of this?? More padded schedules!
The freight railroads need to kick Amtrash off their rails. Let the government build its own railroad.
Mr. Pinckney, why so harsh a reaction? For sure I have questions and concerns about how this be structured and enforced. But if the STB wants to wave a carrot instead of a stick at least some of the time they will acknowledge that many of the “freight train interference” delays are the result of constrained mainline track capacity and lack of operational flexibility by which I mean the lack of frequent interlockings with at least 60mph crossovers. STB should rule that federal and state governments fund such enhancements that will result in a win-win for both services. Hey, the governor of Illinois, a Democrat by the way, has disgracefully grabbed IIJA $$$ meant for putting deficient roads and road bridges back to SOGR and instead is binge-widening interstates, two of them in Chicago city limits. It’s high time these folks began to treat the rail lines that have Amtrak and commuter/regional trains with the same regard or shut the h*ll up about your concerns about climate change/global warming. And where is “Mayor Petey” while Gov. Pritzger violates the road title of the IIJA? MIA he is. Nothin’ knew there.
“New” not “knew” except I knew SecTrans Buttigieg would not call Gov. Pritzger on the carpet for violating the spirit if not the letter of the IIJA grants to states for road repairs.
with a minimum standard of 80% of passenger arrivals at stations to occur within 15 minutes of the scheduled time for any two consecutive calendar quarters.”
15 minutes is still late, sorry to inform you of that. On time performance shouldnt be graded on a curve. You cant run 3hrs late and then have 3 hours of padding at the end and say “Look, we are on time.”
Same with Metra. They were in the STB hearings talking about delays on the CP. When asked what the on time performance was in the 90’s but Metra stated that it didnt really reflect the true delays encountered in between origination and destination because of schedule padding at the end of the trip. Solution? Get rid of the padding. How come if I am 5 minutes 59 seconds late I am on time, but if I am 6 minutes late I am 6 minutes late?
I once read a bunch of CNW passenger/suburban Supt delay reports from the mid 50’s. In one of the reports the Supt wanted and explanation from the manager and crew as to why a train departed 45 SECONDS late! Answer? The Trainman could not see the Conductor waving a highball with his light because of the steam.
Interesting that we have comments from the STB and from Amtrak, but no comments from any of the host railroads, one of their lobbying mouthpieces (AAR) or from the RPA.
Just a simple survey of the AAR website clearly state how the host railroads feel about Amtrak.
https://www.aar.org/article/passenger-rail-policies/
Before the STB goes after any freight railroad for delays to Amtrak they need to do exactly what Gardner&Co don’t want; Investigate Amtrak’s self-inflicted 10/7 mess on the Michigan Line. For starters they should open investigations of all the delays, terminal and out on the road, to the CHI Hub corridor trains due to SC44 Charger failures. I hope Mr. Oberman has the sense to recognize that many of the “freight train interference” delays Amtrak claims have more to do with the lack of mainline track capacity and operating flexibility issues than freight railroads’ lack of caring.
Where is the outrage from Sen. Peters, Sen. Stabenow, Gov. Gretchen? Answer, they are Democrats, same political party as Amtrak Joe and Mayor Pete. Where’s the outrage from the Detroit Free Press (www.freep.com). Oh, no outrage, The Freep is nothing but the PR rag for Joe Biden’s Democrats. Detroit News isn’t any better.
What have Amtrak Joe and Mayor Pete have to say about this fiasco? Answer: nothing at all.
Democrats will throw tens of billions of dollars at Amtrak but don’t seem to give a flip whether or not the trains even get where they’re going.
Bring back Michigan Central’s (New York Central or later Penn Central) passenger trains. They were second-rate, which is to say, a whole lot better than Amtrak. That cranky old ex-PRR E8 which ran on the Michigan Central managed to get to Chicago. Unlike today’s Siemens.
I agree Laurence. Passengers should be included. However, I could see the STB being overwhelmed with passenger complaints about everything. Sort of like calling 911 because McDonald’s was out of chicken nuggets.
Interesting that passengers can’t raise an issue.