(The following story by Uriah A. Kiser appeared on the News & Messenger website on May 24, 2010.)
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — Virginia Railway Express officials will sit down with Amtrak and two other rail companies to discuss the transfer of operations from Amtrak to Keolis Rail Services of America on Tuesday.
The regularly scheduled meeting, to include representatives from Amtrak, Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads, will be held at the Federal Rail Administration in Washington, and is expected to focus on training new employees on each of the respective railroads’ rules and Amtrak’s rail stations and rail yards in Washington.
The meetings have been ongoing since December, as the two companies have been working on the transfer of train operations.
This latest meeting comes as VRE officials are exploring possible legal action against Amtrak after claims the national passenger rail provider interfered with the hiring and training practices of newly hired Keolis employees.
The possible legal action will not be discussed at Tuesday’s meeting, said VRE spokesman Mark Roeber.
The federal oversight agency made it clear in a November letter addressed to VRE officials that it has no interest in which company runs the system, just as long as safety standards are upheld.
“FRA has no opinion of the suitability of Keolis or any other organization to provide contract operator services to VRE. Our only interest is maintaining the safety of VRE operations,” the letter stated.
But FRA officials might have a different idea of what will be discussed during the meeting.
“FRA has asked Keolis, Norfolk Southern, CSX, VRE and Amtrak to meet with FRA in Washington tomorrow to delve deeper into the matter,” said FRA spokesman Mark Paustenbach.
The next meeting of VRE’s two parent organizations, the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission and the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, is June 3. An announcement as to what action VRE might take against Amtrak could be made then.
When Keolis takes over VRE operations June 28, it will mark the first time the company will be charged with doing business in the U.S.