WASHINGTON — Amtrak’s request for cooperation from CSX has received a harsh response from the freight railroad.
A CSX filing with the Surface Transportation Board says the passenger railroad is seeking “unrestrained access” to the route of proposed service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., and wants “a blank check to perform whatever work it wants … without any explanation of what it proposes to do.” As such, the railroad argues, it provides no reason for the board to grant Amtrak’s request for an interim order compelling CSX cooperation, as requested in October [see “Amtrak asks STB to compel cooperation by CSX …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 20, 2021].
That request is part of the larger, ongoing effort by Amtrak asking the STB to force CSX and Norfolk Southern to permit the start of Gulf Coast service [see “Amtrak asks STB to require CSX, NS to allow …,” News Wire, March 16, 2021]. Last week, the two railroads argued such service would cause major problems for freight traffic [see “CSX, NS say Gulf Coast passenger service would ‘devastate’ freight operations,” News Wire, Nov. 4, 2021].
Norfolk Southern, which was also part of Amtrak’s October request for the interim order, filed a brief response saying it should not have been included since it has provided Amtrak with access as requested. It asked the board to dismiss NS from any interim order that may result.
The significantly redacted public version of CSX’s filing omits portions of its introduction; parts of its argument that Amtrak service will significantly impair freight operations; a portion of its statements outlining the need for a station and layover track in Mobile; part of its claim that the condition of stations along the route are delaying the start of service; and a section of its argument blaming Amtrak for delays in the start of service. It also omits omits five of its 15 exhibits.
But the primary thrust of its filing is that Amtrak’s request, which stems from the passenger railroad’s stated desire to survey the railroad’s Choctaw Yard in Mobile for a possible layover track for Gulf Coast trains, is twofold: First, that the request constitutes a belated request for discovery, after the discovery period in the case over Gulf Coast service has ended, and second, that construction of a layover track “would create massive disruptions” and would be both unsafe and premature. (The CSX filing says it understood Amtrak’s request to mean the passenger railroad actually wanted to begin construction).
Among other points, Amtrak’s filing asserted that CSX had removed a track at Choctaw Yard that had previously been used for layovers for prior versions of Gulf Coast service; CSX says Amtrak did not propose the use of Choctaw until July 14, 2021; that the last train to use the line, the Sunset Limited, did not lay over in Choctaw, and that Amtrak had not paid to maintain or shown a contractual obligation to maintain that track.
In a number of points, CSX places the delay in starting Gulf Coast service on Amtrak. It cites internal document it says show that Amtrak “has known for some time that it was ill prepared to being service on the timetable it represented to the board,” and says Amtrak is at fault for “regulatory oversights and the inability to obtain timely funding approvals.”
In response to a request for comment from Trains News Wire, Amtrak said it will “review the filing and will respond accordingly.”
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