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On May 3, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) will hold a public hearing in Washington, D.C., to examine the current state of rail competition and explore policy initiatives that could promote more rail-to-rail competition.

The hearing will serve as a public forum to discuss rail access and competition, and identify any measures the board should consider to modify its competitive access rules and policies, STB members said in a decision dated Jan. 11. The proceeding also will help determine whether a proposed policy or rule modification would be appropriate given changes in the transportation and shipping industries during the past 30 years, and how modifications might affect rail rates and service, board members said.

The STB is urging interested parties to provide testimony or comments on the rail industry’s financial state, alternative through routes, terminal facilities access, reciprocal switching agreements, bottleneck rates, access pricing and potential impacts. The board is accepting initial comments until Feb. 18; the STB’s reply comments are due March 18.

“I said last year that it was time for the board to revisit the current rail regulatory framework, and that is what we are doing,” said STB Chairman Daniel Elliott III in a prepared statement. “We need to strike a balance between providing access to competitive rail transportation for shippers while maintaining the rail industry’s impressive economic renaissance.”