STB proposes eliminating some rail data reports, adding new ones

The Surface Transportation Board yesterday issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to streamline and improve reporting requirements for Class Is.

The STB is proposing to eliminate the now-unnecessary supplemental reporting of positive train control expenditures and proposing to require the reporting of two critical metrics for the board’s objective to ensure rail service reliability, agency officials said in a press release.

The board expects the proposed rulemaking to be one initial component of a four-part effort to enhance, focus and automate the agency’s data collection, they said.

That four-part effort involves eliminating unneeded data collections; strengthening mission-critical data collections; streamlining filing and automating processing; and improving data visualization.

The STB's action follows a request from the Association of American Railroads and comments from shippers in multiple dockets, agency officials said. Comments on the proposed rule are due Oct. 30. For more information about the board's proposal, click here.