STB Orders New Status Report on Amtrak Gulf Coast Service

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Feb. 26 decided the Amtrak Gulf Coast Service proceeding will remain in abeyance and directed the parties to file a joint status report by March 15 covering issues raised during this month’s hearing on the slow pace of getting two Amtrak trains in each direction running between New Orleans and Mobile.

On Feb. 14, the STB held a hearing involving Amtrak, CSX, Norfolk Southern (NS), and Alabama State Port Authority and its rail carrier operating division, Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks, to discuss what was holding up implementation of their November 2022 settlement agreement to ultimately restore passenger service in a region that has not had access to it since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The parties told the STB that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has awarded a $178 million Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program (CRISI) grant to Amtrak to fund certain agreed-upon rail infrastructure projects associated with the service and that Amtrak has been working with FRA to finalize a funding agreement related to the CRISI grant, which will ultimately require agreement from all parties. Dismissing the Amtrak Gulf Coast Service proceeding, the parties said, would not be appropriate until the final CRISI grant agreement has been executed.

“During the hearing, the parties explained that before Gulf Coast Service can commence, in addition to finalizing the CRISI Grant Agreement, a platform and layover track must be constructed in Mobile, Ala. (Mobile Station Track Project),” STB reported in its decision (download below). “According to the parties, the Mobile Station Track Project requires review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) at FRA, and Amtrak is negotiating a land use agreement with the City of Mobile (Mobile) related to the Mobile Station Track Project. Finally, according to the parties, before Gulf Coast Service can commence, Amtrak must also negotiate an operating agreement with Mobile.”

At the hearing’s conclusion, STB directed the parties to file a joint status report by March 15. In its decision, the federal agency charged the parties with addressing “the issues raised during the hearing, including, but not necessarily limited to,” the following:

• The status of the CRISI grant agreement, including when the parties expect the agreement to be finalized. 
• The status of the NEPA review related to the Mobile Station Track Project, as well as any other ongoing NEPA review related to the CRISI grant agreement or any other federal funding. According to the STB, the report should delineate each review process by project, include the dates on which Amtrak submitted environmental materials to FRA, the dates on which FRA provided responses, and the dates on which Amtrak provided any supplemental environmental materials. It should also cover: “whether the parties anticipate (or have been informed) that a project is eligible for a categorical exclusion under NEPA, and what the parties anticipate (or have been informed) is the specific timing of any outstanding activites to receive a categorical exclusion or any other form of environmental clearance; whether the project has the potential to affect historic properties and requires further compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, 54 U.S.C. § 306108, and what the parties anticipate (or have been informed) is the specific timing of any required activities under Section 106; whether the project requires consistency review under the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), 16 U.S.C. § 1451-1467, and what the parties anticipate (or have been informed) is the specific timing of any outstanding required activities under the CZMA; and whether, for each project, the environmental review must be completed before the commencement of passenger operations.”
• The status of Amtrak’s negotiations with the city of Mobile related to the land use agreement and the operating agreement, including whether Amtrak has provided Mobile with a final estimate of operating costs for which it seeks state or local funding.

Upon receipt of the March 15 status report, the STB said it will determine what if any further steps will be required with respect to updates on status. If, by May 1, 2024, the parties have not notified the STB that their settlement has been fully implemented and requested dismissal of this proceeding, and if the STB has not otherwise ordered additional actions, the parties will be required to file an additional joint status report on that date, updating the March 14 report, according to the STB.

For more Railway Age reports on implementing Gulf Coast Service, click here.