Amtrak loses power to hold freight accountable for delays
The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington threw out a law passed to enforce a requirement that freight trains give priority to passenger trains on tracks they share.
Amtrak Acela at Boston Station. Photo via Flickr- Loco Steve
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amtrak lost its power to assess blame when its trains are delayed and to have a say in whether freight railroads causing those holdups are penalized, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek report. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington threw out a law passed to enforce a requirement that freight trains give priority to passenger trains on tracks they share, which they do in most of the U.S.
Amtrak, which tracks and publishes its delays in monthly reports, cited freight-train interference as the most common type of delay over the past 12 months, the report said. For the full story, click here.
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