Amtrak’s Rights and Relationships with Host Railroads September 21, 2017 Jim Blair –Director Host Railroads Today’s Amtrak System 2| Amtrak Amtrak’s Services • Northeast Corridor (NEC) • 457 miles • Washington‐New York‐Boston Northeast Corridor • 11.9 million riders in FY16 • Long Distance (LD) services • 15 routes • Up to 2,438 miles in length Long • 4.65 million riders in FY16 Distance • State‐supported trains • 29 routes • 19 partner states • Up to 750 miles in length State- • 14.7 million riders in FY16 supported3| Amtrak Amtrak’s Host Railroads Amtrak Route System Track Ownership Excluding Terminal Railroads VANCOUVER SEATTLE Spokane ! MONTREAL PORTLAND ST. PAUL / MINNEAPOLIS Operated ! St. Albans by VIA Rail NECR MDOT TORONTO VTR Rutland ! Port Huron Niagara Falls ! Brunswick Grand Rapids ! ! ! Pan Am MILWAUKEE ! Pontiac Hoffmans Metra Albany ! BOSTON ! CHICAGO ! Springfield Conrail Metro- ! CLEVELAND MBTA SALT LAKE CITY North PITTSBURGH ! ! NEW YORK ! INDIANAPOLIS Harrisburg ! KANSAS CITY ! PHILADELPHIA DENVER ! ! BALTIMORE SACRAMENTO Charlottesville WASHINGTON ST. LOUIS ! Richmond OAKLAND ! Petersburg ! Buckingham ! Newport News Norfolk NMRX Branch ! Oklahoma City ! Bakersfield ! MEMPHIS SCRRA ALBUQUERQUE ! ! LOS ANGELES ATLANTA SCRRA / BNSF / SDN DALLAS ! FT. WORTH SAN DIEGO HOUSTON ! JACKSONVILLE ! NEW ORLEANS SAN ANTONIO Railroads TAMPA! Amtrak (incl. Leased) Norfolk Southern FDOT ! MIAMI Union Pacific Canadian Pacific BNSF Canadian National CSXT Other Railroads 4| Amtrak Amtrak’s Host Railroads ! MONTREAL Amtrak NEC Route System Rouses Point Track Ownership Excluding Terminal Railroads ! St. Albans New England Central Vermont Railway ! Brunswick ! TORONTO ! Rutland Niagara Falls Hoffmans Port Huron ! Pan Am ! Schenectady Albany ! Haverhill ! Pontiac Operated by VIA Rail Worcester ! BOSTON ! MBTA MiDOT Springfield ! (Boston to RI ! Providence Poughkeepsie State Line ! Dispatched by CLEVELAND Metro- ! Amtrak North New Haven ! New Rochelle ! ! NEW YORK ! PITTSBURGH Harrisburg ! PHILADELPHIA ! BALTIMORE ! Railroads WASHINGTON Amtrak Canadian Pacific (incl. Leased) CSXT Canadian National ! Charlottesville Richmond ! Norfolk Southern Other Railroads Buckingham Petersburg Branch ! Newport News Norfolk 5| Amtrak Host Railroads by Mileage • 97% of Amtrak route miles are on host railroads • 20,000 host railroad miles • 700 Amtrak miles • 70% of Amtrak train-miles are on host railroads: • BNSF Railway (6.69 million train-miles) • Union Pacific Railroad (6.09 million train-miles) • CSX Transportation (5.85 million train-miles) • Norfolk Southern Railway (2.36 million train-miles) • Canadian National Railway (1.45 million train-miles) • Metro-North Commuter Railroad (1.34 million train-miles) 6| Amtrak Backdrop: Amtrak’s Statutory Rights • The Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 and subsequent amendments, now codified at 49 U.S.C. §§ 24101 et seq., provides Amtrak with rights on host railroads, including: – Access to any rail line in the US. – Use of host railroad San Joaquin near Merced, CA facilities. – Payments based on host’s incremental cost. – Amtrak preference over freight transportation. – Additional trains. – Accelerated speeds. – Condemnation authority. 7| Amtrak “Operating Agreements” with host railroads • 37 negotiated Operating Agreements with 30 different railroads translate statutes to host-specific terms and conditions including: – Operation of existing service – Service standards – Implementing new service – Liability apportionment – Dispute resolution – Payment amounts and terms for services provided by the host 8| Amtrak Myths of Amtrak Access • By Federal law, Amtrak is granted access to the entire national rail network. • Including host railroad property such as station buildings, platforms, and other facilities. • There is no fee for access to the national network granted to Amtrak. • This access is not restricted to routes where Amtrak already has or previously had service. 9| Amtrak Preference Over Freight Transportation • Rail passenger transportation provided by Amtrak has “preference over freight transportation in using a rail line, junction, or crossing….” • A host may seek to have preference modified by the STB by demonstrating that providing preference “materially will lessen the quality of freight transportation provided to shippers”. • No host has sought to demonstrate this. 10 | Amtrak Amtrak Payments to Host Railroads • Incremental cost reimbursement • The short-term avoidable cost incurred by the host due to the presence of Amtrak operations on its rail lines. • Sometimes includes host railroad staff employed due to the presence of Amtrak. • Quality Payments/Performance penalties. • Operating agreements seek to incent good performance and penalize poor performance. 11 | Amtrak Performance Influenced by Host Railroads Sources of Amtrak Train Delay Primary host delay categories: • Freight Train Interference • Slow Orders Third Party * 6% • Passenger Train Interference • Signals • Routing Amtrak • Maintenance of Way 22% Primary Amtrak delay categories: • Passenger-related • Locomotive failure Host • Crew & System 72% 12 | Amtrak * Unused Recovery Time Not Included. Liability Arrangements with Host Railroads • Standard liability coverage • Amtrak has a unique contractual no-fault liability arrangement with its host railroads, an excellent safety record, and a decades-long history of standing behind its liability commitments to hosts. This combination provides the lowest-cost liability arrangement. • Amtrak extends these arrangements to state sponsors by contract. 13 | Amtrak Amtrak is also a “Host” Railroad • Six freight railroads operate on Amtrak Lines • Norfolk Southern • CSX • Providence & Worcester • NECR • Pan Am • Conrail • Most operations at night. • These railroads pay Amtrak’s fully allocated costs. • Regular coordination on industrial development, engineering design, operations planning. 14 | Amtrak Amtrak as “Host” 15 | Amtrak Amtrak’s Rights and Relationships with Host Railroads September 21, 2017 Jim Blair –Director Host Railroads.