Commuter-rail group seeks delay of passenger liability cap increase

In response to the announced increase in the passenger-rail liability cap, the Commuter Rail Coalition (CRC) is asking U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for a minimum 120-day delay in implementation of that increase, and describes the market failure already jeopardizing agencies’ access to required liability coverage.

In the letter to Buttigieg, CRC officials wrote: "The newly proposed liability cap will be challenging to satisfy in this distressed marketplace, and likely impossible to accomplish in 30 days."

The marketplace will be further stressed because all U.S. passenger-rail agencies will be seeking increased coverages at the same time, the group wrote.

With the departure of many insurance companies from the excess market, and those remaining reducing the amount of risk they are willing to insure, CRC officials are concerned that coverages might be unavailable for some agencies.