(Bloomberg News circulated the following story by Angela Greiling Keane on February 12, 2009.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Freight railroads that cause delays for Amtrak passenger trains using their tracks could be fined under new authority for a U.S. rail oversight board, an official said yesterday at a hearing in Washington.
The Surface Transportation Board, the regulator of some rail rates, is gaining power to ensure Amtrak trains are punctual under a law passed in October. Chairman Charles Nottingham said the law allows it to levy fines to help meet that goal.
Officials want the service, which runs on freight-rail tracks in most parts of the United States, to be on time in 80 percent of trips. Freight-train hindrances and so-called slow orders, where carriers reduce speeds on sections of track, were the main causes of Amtrak delays last year, Amtrak chief operating officer William Crosbie said.
“On-time performance of our trains is highly variable,” Crosbie told the board at the hearing to discuss the new authority. “We want to make it very clear that the on-time performance of our trains is the linchpin of our success.”
Amtrak runs 71 percent of its train miles on other railroad lines. The Washington-based carrier owns its track on the Northeast Corridor, from Washington to Boston.
On time for Northeast Corridor trains, which compete with airlines for passengers, means arriving within 10 minutes of schedule, Crosbie said. On long-distance routes, an Amtrak train is considered on time if it arrives within 30 minutes.
Since the fiscal year started Oct. 1, the on-time rate systemwide for Amtrak has been about 77 percent, according to Cliff Black, a spokesman. The pace was 81 percent in the Northeast and less than 70 percent for long-distance trains.
“For Amtrak, this is vitally important to us,” Crosbie said. “Every day that goes by where on-time performance is poor is money to us.”
Determining who is to blame for delays may be difficult, said Mark Yachmetz, associate administrator for railroad development at the Federal Railroad Administration.
“It’s not going to be one simple, easy cause,” Yachmetz said. “It’s going to be balancing a number of factors that may be assignable to more than one party.”