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5/5/2022
The Surface Transportation Board's evidentiary hearing on Amtrak's application to operate passenger-rail service along the Gulf Coast will continue May 9 and May 11, the board announced yesterday.
The hearing will be held in person at the board’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and can be viewed on the STB's YouTube page.
The STB began the hearing last month. The case pits Amtrak against CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway, which own the track that Amtrak trains would travel along the proposed route between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama.
CSX and NS — along with the Port of Mobile and its Terminal Railway-Alabama State Docks — are opposed to the Amtrak service unless Amtrak spends significant funds to upgrade infrastructure. Amtrak has not offered service along the Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina struck the region in 2005.
Among the questions the STB will have to settle are whether to grant Amtrak the authority to begin service immediately; deny Amtrak’s application altogether; approve Amtrak’s application only if Amtrak upgrades the infrastructure; and whether the STB has the authority to require infrastructure to be improved.