The WSJ reports that the Supreme Court will hear the case of whether Amtrak can, as a private company, with the government help (FRA) set performance standards with the freight railroads. Some excerpts from the article.
"The railroads found the adopted performance metrics to be unrealistic and said the law's grant of authority to Amtrak was unprecedented and untenable. They argued that Congress violated the Constitution by delegating authority to a private entity........ The appeals court acknowledged that Amtrak "is a curious entity" that straddles the public and private sectors, but it noted that Amtrak was a for-profit corporation......... Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to review the case, saying the government retained sufficient control over the Amtrak performance standards to avoid any constitutional concerns."
Gotta love the reference to Amtrak as a curious entity! Seems to me the time to have set overall standards was in May of 1971.
Now I would think it needs to be part of the regular contract negotiations between Amtrak and each of the involved railroads, if in fact it is a private business.
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
quote:Originally posted by palmland: Gotta love the reference to Amtrak as a curious entity! Seems to me the time to have set overall standards was in May of 1971.
Now I would think it needs to be part of the regular contract negotiations between Amtrak and each of the involved railroads, if in fact it is a private business.
There were standards set in the original Amtrak formation, but their time limit has passed. Do nt recall their content at this time.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Mr. Harris, excerpted from Section 3.3 of the May 1, 1971 Agreement:
Railroad shall provide services hereunder in an economic and efficient manner and shall give appropriate recognition to the importance of on time passenger train operations and passenger comfort and convenience. Railroad shall make every reasonable effort to maintain the schedules established by NRPC for its Intercity Rail Passenger Service.
Like it or not Volks, "straight from the horse's mouth."
Posted by Geoff Mayo (Member # 153) on :
Phraseology like that is designed to give the widest possible latitude of definition to the interpreter of such statements. In other words, judge A could give one interpretation; judge B a conflicting interpretation; and neither would have misinterpreted the statements.
Setting actual performance metrics is a curious state of affairs indeed for such pairs of entities. Of course, BNSF, if not others, have had financial incentives to meet agreed targets for years and do quite nicely out of them, thank you very much - recent Empire Builder performance excepted most likely.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
A review of this Amicus Curiae Brief filed regarding USDOT v. AAR has the potential of determining to what extent Amtrak is a private corporation of simply a Federal agency 'masquerading' as such.
Our barristers around here will likely concur that there is much more to this issue than simply whether or not the trains run on time:
One must wonder to what extent, if any, this Emory University law profewssor is a railfan.
Posted by Vincent206 (Member # 15447) on :
The most important question in the case seems to be whether or not Amtrak has a bias in the case due to its financial constraints. Because Congress allowed Amtrak and the FRA to set the performance standards for the host railroads, the standards could be ruled invalid if the host railroads could show that Amtrak's financial interests would create a due process issue. If the PRIIA legislation had required the FRA to establish performance standards (in consultation with Amtrak and the host railroads), then there wouldn't be any due process question. But the fact that Amtrak and the FRA have the responsibility to set the standards raises the question of whether or not the railroads are being denied their right of due process.
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
If there were to be a decision, whatever it may be, that constrains the RR's ability to perform quality service to their paying customers you can be assured the RR's will establish monitoring procedures which will nail down Amtrak's performance. And I suspect that Amtrak will not look good as a result. Be careful what you ask for!!
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
The arguements for October 2014 are slated on the Supreme Court website.
This case is not one of them.
Justice Ginsburg or Justice Thomas will write this one. They seem to be the administrative law specialists of the Court. When it comes to administrative law, they are pretty much in agreement.
Except as passengers and railfans, this will not affect GBN's famous "UENI." It will, however, be a major muscle group move involving such wonderful entities as the Postal Service.
This comes from the DC, vice the Federal, Circuit. I'm not sure of the track record of the DC Circuit at the Supreme Court. (If it was the Ninth Circuit, I'd be saying "prepare for a smackdown" ... I've seen but few opinions upholding them).
In the famous terms of Harry Potter III: "And now we wait."