Though the golden days of passenger rail service are long since behind us, the federal government continues to operate Amtrak, a sprawling federal agency with more than 19,000 employees in 46 states that provides rail service...more
“It’s a good time to be in transportation!” says William Murdock, Executive Director of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC). Speaking to KJK’s Samir Dahman and James Scherer, Mr. Murdock, who heads one of...more
On March 31, 2021, President Joe Biden announced a $2 trillion infrastructure plan, named the “American Jobs Plan.” In addition to seeking upgrades to U.S. highways, bridges, ports, airports, transit systems, and waterways,...more
During the presidential campaign, candidate Joe Biden called for "Sparking the second great railroad revolution." Biden pledged to "make sure that America has the cleanest, safest, and fastest rail system in the world – for...more
The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation (“Commerce Committee”) recently held a nomination hearing to fill two vacancies on the Surface Transportation Board (“STB”), the economic regulator of...more
Need for Positive Train Control is Past Due - The deadline for installing and implementing positive train control, known as PTC, is Dec. 31, 2018. It likely will come and go, with a majority of the country’s railways...more
Amtrak trains have been involved in four deaths since December 2017, including the most recent tragedy in South Carolina that killed two crew members and injured more than 100 passengers....more
Train Wreck Reports are developing that the recent and tragic crash of an AmTrak train, running on CSX rails, might have been avoided if a safety feature called a “positive train control” (PTC) had been employed at the time....more
Another tragedy on an AMTRAK train has caused the loss of lives and serious injuries in Dupont, Washington this morning. There are reports the train, the Cascades service from Seattle to Portland was travelling on tracks...more
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has announced final rules permitting eligible petitioners to submit proposals to replace Amtrak on up to three Amtrak routes. The rules implement provisions of the Fixing America's...more
In Florida, All Aboard Florida, a private entity, is about to launch passenger rail service from Miami to West Palm Beach, with future service extending to Orlando. In California, the California High-Speed Rail Authority is...more
There was a plenty of rail-related activity during the 114th Congress and the last two years of the Obama Administration. Amtrak and the Surface Transportation Board (STB) were reauthorized with major changes to Amtrak's...more
As this blog has reported, exclusions and limits for flood coverage have generally held up against the tide of claims arising from Superstorm Sandy. Now that the water is gone, however, new losses have been discovered, and...more
An Amtrak train collided with a maintenance vehicle in Chester, Pennsylvania, killing two Amtrak employees, Backhoe operator Joseph Carter Jr., and supervisor Peter Adamovich in the early morning of April 3, 2016. About 30...more
Builders and contractors may be interested to learn that, in the past few days, the Supreme Courts of Texas capitoland Colorado, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit have issued significant rulings addressing the...more
An Amtrak Blue Ribbon Panel formed in 2014 that included Nossaman partner Linda Morgan has released a report recommending how to fix the congestion plaguing Chicago’s rail network. As the hub of the U.S. rail network, the...more
On June 9, 2015, the Federal Railroad Administration ("FRA") issued Safety Advisory 2015-03 requiring passenger railroads to make operational and signal modifications to ensure compliance with speed restrictions. The FRA is...more
In a class action brought against Amtrak, two plaintiffs, Guerra and Whitesides, both of whom had submitted declarations in support of plaintiffs’ motion for class certification, failed to appear at their scheduled...more
This week’s horrific Amtrak accident just outside Philadelphia served as a grim reminder of our country’s political and economic challenges concerning infrastructure development. It perhaps gained even more attention than...more
The House Transportation Committee has approved the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act, a bill that would reauthorize Amtrak and other rail programs. The bill is substantially the same as the 2014 legislation and is...more
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Dep't of Transp. v. Ass'n of Am. Railroads. At issue is whether Congress may grant Amtrak, a private entity created by Congress, the power to co-author regulations...more
After their overwhelming success in the 2014 mid-term elections, Republicans are preparing to assume their new majority in the Senate, while their House colleagues have secured an expanded majority that exceeds their World...more
In July 2013, the D.C. Circuit ruled that Section 207 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 ("PRIIA"), under which Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration ("FRA") jointly established metrics and...more
Last week, officials from Amtrak, Norfolk Southern and the Federal Railroad Administration and Indiana Governor Mike Pence gathered to celebrate commencement of construction on the Indiana Gateway Project....more
As Congress has now failed to pass a continuing resolution to fund most federal operations, a government shutdown began this morning, the beginning of the federal government’s 2014 fiscal year. While exceptions are made for...more