WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation board has ruled Metra must pay Amtrak $10.7 million annually for use of Chicago Union Station — virtually splitting the difference between the figures suggested by the two parities — while declining to address a number of key operating issues which remain in dispute.
In a decision reached Monday and released today, the STB ruled on costs in three areas — ground-power charges, station operations and maintenance, and policing — after Amtrak and Metra had previously agreed on costs for dispatching and maintenance-of-way. The total figure for STB-ordered compensation in those five areas is $10,673,743; Amtrak had sought $14,794,407, while Metra had offered $6,740,566. As recently as 2018, Metra had paid $9.66 million for station use.
The ruling addresses a petition filed by Amtrak in May 2020 — the third time Amtrak or Metra had asked the STB to intervene in a disagreement dating to 2018 [see “Amtrak asks STB to settle dispute with Metra …,” Trains News Wire, May 28, 2020].
Amtrak said in a statement that it “thanks the Surface Transportation Board for its decision resolving the protracted negotiations with Metra regarding fair compensation for Metra’s use of leased space at Amtrak-owned Chicago Union Station. We can proceed to complete and sign a lease that is in the best public interest and can continue our work together to safely grow both of our services to the benefit of everyone.”
The decision leaves unresolved such issues as a dispute over the process for Metra to add trains to and from Union Station to its schedule, and a dispute over “dwell time” — the period Metra trains are allowed to remain at the station. In a filing earlier this year, Amtrak had proposed Metra trains be allowed to remain for as little as 10 minutes during peak periods [see “Station control at center of latest filings …,” News Wire, Feb. 22, 2021].
The STB did not address these issues, it said in its ruling, because “its jurisdiction over this matter extends only to determining compensation” under a statute “narrower than other statutes in which Congress has specifically given Board authority to set both compensation and other terms and conditions.” The board wrote that it “strongly encourages the parties to consider mediation on any remaining disputed non-compensation contract terms.”
Metra spokesman Michael Gillis told Trains News Wire this afternoon, “As you can tell by the Surface Transportation Board’s 31-page decision, the dispute between Metra and Amtrak over rent at Chicago Union Station is no simple matter. It involves complex interpretations of laws and regulations, differing opinions about how, when and where to calculate and allocate expenses, and other disputes over which reasonable parties can and do disagree. Metra is grateful for the Board’s thoughtful decision, and we look forward to working with Amtrak to resolve our remaining differences. Both parties are simply trying to reach the best resolution for our customers and stakeholders.”
— Updated at 1:46 p.m. CDT with updated Amtrak statement; updated at 4 p.m. with Metra statement.
“Maintenance away”?