This Is to Acknowledge Receipt of Your February 22, 2019 Letter Requesting
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NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION 1 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001 Tel: (202) 906-3971 March 6, 2019 Garrett D. Urban General Attorney Norfolk Southern Corporation Law Department Three Commercial Place Norfolk, VA 23510 Dear Mr. Urban: This is to acknowledge receipt of your February 22, 2019 letter requesting that Amtrak “refrain from further statements from its Twitter account.” First, thank you for following the @AmtrakAlerts Twitter account. Our customers really appreciate these explanations about when and why they are being delayed by a freight train. Amtrak loses over $140 million dollars a year due to delays caused by host railroads and our customers lose thousands of minutes of their lives waiting to arrive at their destinations. These numbers have considerably increased over the last decade and Norfolk Southern, and its terrible service to Amtrak customers, bears significant responsibility for this increase. As a Norfolk Southern customer, Amtrak demands that Norfolk Southern meet or exceed 80% on-time performance at all stations on all Amtrak routes as required by law. Your letter is surprising mostly because it focused on just a single tweet about train 20(15) from the @AmtrakAlerts Twitter feed. While train 20(15) was initially delayed by a mechanical issue, the subsequent 198 minutes of delay due to Norfolk Southern compounded this problem, which is sadly all too common. While you complain this was due to the train being “off plan,” the thousands of severe delays to Amtrak passengers caused by Norfolk Southern make clear there is no Norfolk Southern “plan.” In 2018, Norfolk Southern delayed Amtrak trains for 464,342 minutes, the equivalent of 322 days. For many Amtrak customers, enduring severe delays caused by Norfolk Southern are the norm. In 2018, each Crescent train was, on average, delayed nearly 2.5 hours by Norfolk Southern freight trains alone, in addition to many other Norfolk Southern- caused delays. In just the first two months of 2019, a single Norfolk Southern freight train (Train 21M) was responsible for over 1,346 minutes of delay to Amtrak trains on Norfolk Southern territory. In 2018, this same freight train caused 9,786 minutes of delay to Amtrak trains and the customers on board. This consistent pattern of delays caused by a single Norfolk Southern freight train demonstrates a clear violation of 49 U.S. Code § 24308, which requires Norfolk Southern to provide Amtrak trains with preference over freight transportation. Moreover, each and every violation of Amtrak’s preference right and resulting delays to our passengers are causing irreparable injury to Amtrak’s business and public reputation. Our passengers have every right to know why they are being delayed, and Amtrak is duty-bound to tell them. We wish that this pattern of delays was limited to a single train, or a single route so we could work together to remedy the situation, but instead, this dreadful level of service is found 1 NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION 1 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001 Tel: (202) 906-3971 throughout the Norfolk Southern system. Let me draw your attention to just a few of the thousands of instances where Norfolk Southern robbed Amtrak’s customers of their valuable time: On April 12, 2018, Piedmont Train 74, operating on a line where the Federal government invested $494 million to improve passenger rail service, departed Charlotte on-time and then incurred 2 hours of delay caused by Norfolk Southern freight trains, most of which was spent following a single freight train. On November 5, 2018, Piedmont Train 74, operating on the same line that received millions of taxpayer dollars, departed Charlotte on-time and then incurred more than 1.5 hours of delay caused by Norfolk Southern freight trains. On November 22, 2018, Pennsylvanian Train 42 departed Pittsburgh on-time and then incurred over 2 hours of delay caused by Norfolk Southern freight trains. On January 2, 2019, Crescent Train 20 departed New Orleans on-time and then incurred nearly 3.5 hours of delay caused by Norfolk Southern freight trains. On January 17, 2019, Pennsylvanian Train 43 entered Norfolk Southern territory at Harrisburg 4 minutes late, then incurred 1.5 hours of delay caused by Norfolk Southern freight trains, including following a single freight train for nearly 50 miles. On February 7, 2019, Capitol Limited Train 30 departed Chicago on-time and then incurred 4 hours of delay caused by Norfolk Southern freight trains, including holding near Cleveland for 1.5 hours to allow two Norfolk Southern trains traveling in the opposite direction to pass. On February 14, 2019, Wolverine Train 352 departed Chicago on-time and then incurred 1.5 hours of delay caused by Norfolk Southern freight trains. On February 21, 2019, Capitol Limited Train 30 departed Chicago on-time and then incurred nearly 2.5 hours of delay caused by Norfolk Southern freight trains, a portion of which included following a single freight train for more than 100 miles in double-track territory. On February 22, 2019, Capitol Limited Train 29 arrived at Norfolk Southern territory at Pittsburgh early, then incurred 2 hours of delay caused by Norfolk Southern freight trains, including following a single Norfolk Southern train for more than 100 miles in double- track territory. On February 24, 2019, Capitol Limited Train 30 departed Chicago 8 minutes late and then incurred 5 hours of delay caused by Norfolk Southern freight trains, including two hours following a single Norfolk Southern freight train in double-track territory. On February 24, 2019, Lake Shore Limited Train 49 entered Norfolk Southern territory at Cleveland 30 minutes late, then incurred 2.5 hours of delay caused by Norfolk Southern freight trains, including following a single Norfolk Southern freight train for 96 miles in double-track territory. As you are aware, Amtrak regularly reports to Norfolk Southern all delays experienced by Amtrak and its customers on Norfolk Southern territory. When Amtrak customers are forced to sit idle while Norfolk Southern gives preference to their freight trains, we think it is important that our customers know that Norfolk Southern is responsible for that decision. We will continue to provide our customers with the facts. We wholeheartedly agree that it is in your interest to focus on the events that delay Amtrak trains, and we look forward to learning how Norfolk Southern will change its practices to end the continuous violation of Amtrak’s preference rights. We note that 2 NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION 1 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001 Tel: (202) 906-3971 among the six Class I freight host railroads, Norfolk Southern is ranked last in performance – and in 2018 was responsible for 30% more delays than even the next-to-last host railroad. In your letter, you indicated if Amtrak fails to cease tweeting information regarding delays, Norfolk Southern “will be forced to consider further action.” We urge Norfolk Southern to live up to that promise by taking immediate action to improve the on-time performance of Amtrak trains on your railroad. Respectfully, William Herrmann Vice President, Sr. Managing Deputy General Counsel & Assistant Corporate Secretary C: Jay Fox, Senior Director – Host Railroads, Amtrak Joseph Carpenter, General Counsel – Markets & Regulation, Norfolk Southern John Edwards, General Director Passenger Policy, Norfolk Southern Randall Hunt, Senior Director – Interline Management, Norfolk Southern Michael McClellan, Vice President – Strategic Planning, Norfolk Southern Vanessa Sutherland, Vice President – Law, Norfolk Southern 3 .