In the year since the East Palestine train derailment, rail safety has been a hot button issue in the United States. After the East Palestine derailment dominated news headlines in late February and March of 2023, there...more
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced that it has doubled all of its rail safety civil monetary penalty (CMP) base amounts for violations of rail safety and hazardous materials regulations. The changes are...more
Viking River Cruises v. Angie Moriana, No. 20-1573: This case, involving the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) and the California Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”), presents the following question: Whether the FAA requires...more
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, H.R. 3684 (117), was signed into law by President Biden on November 15, 2021. In addition to $66 billion in funding for passenger and freight railroads, the law contains a number...more
On April 11, 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order on Promoting Energy Infrastructure on Economic Growth which included provisions related to updating regulations linked to facilities which handle liquefied natural...more
The Federal Railroad Administration (“FRA”) has released its latest Positive Train Control (“PTC”) implementation progress report for the 2nd quarter of 2018. The FRA’s latest report indicates that railroads are making steady...more
As the December 31, 2018 deadline approaches for freight, passenger, and commuter railroads to implement Positive Train Control (“PTC”), the Federal Railroad Administration (“FRA”) is reporting on the progress of individual...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
In January 2017, Holland & Knight Transportation & Infrastructure lawyers and senior advisors prepared 20 posts for the 20 days leading to President Donald Trump's inauguration regarding what to expect from the Trump...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
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Federal Railroad Administration’s new Safety Advisory seeks to cover activities that fall outside the scope of FRA safety regulations, but within the purview of the OSHA regulations. The Federal...more