TTD's Regan raises alarm over bill to end Amtrak's 'right of preference'

Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) President Greg Regan last week wrote to U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) to oppose the lawmaker’s bill that would eliminate a federal provision that gives Amtrak trains the "right of preference" over freight trains on freight-owned track.

Burlison introduced his "Freights First Act" earlier this year to address freight-rail service problems and speed up supply-chain delays. He blamed Amtrak’s "burdensome right of track mandate" as a reason for freight railroad bottlenecks that hurt the movement of consumer goods.

"We should find ways to cut red tape to benefit our supply chain instead of providing special treatment to poor stewards of the people’s money like Amtrak," Burlison said in a press release issued when he introduced the bill, which has been referred to the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials. The bill would eliminate Amtrak's right of preference if an Amtrak train is within 50 miles of a port or rail yard.

The legislation is co-sponsored by U.S. Reps. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.)

Burlison’s bill would "greatly harm intercity and commuter passenger rail service while doing nothing to improve ongoing freight rail service delays," Regan wrote last week to Burlison. Regan sent the letter on behalf of 13 rail labor unions.

The bill would impact passenger service in high ridership states where Amtrak trains run on freight-owned lines such as Virginia, Illinois, North Carolina, California, Oregon and Washington, TTD officials said.

"The right of preference dates back to the Rail Passenger Service Act that created Amtrak in 1970, and freight railroads actively supported this right for Amtrak at the time," Regan’s letter stated. "Amtrak runs just a handful of trains on most freight rail lines in this country and is not at fault for the widespread service issues experienced by nearly every industry, from agriculture to manufacturing, that ships goods by rail."

Regan blamed freight-rail service problems on some railroads' adoption of precision-scheduled railroading operating models. He called on Congress to pass rail-safety legislation and require better rail service by "strengthening common carrier obligation for freight railroads."