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OCR for page 75
Ongoing Management of Shared-Use Operations 75
· Managing service evolution over time to adjust for demand growth, faster service, route exten-
sions, and new routes. This includes both short-term and temporary changes in response to
special situations and events and longer-term evolutionary change to refine the service and
accommodate traffic growth.
Separate discussions are provided for Amtrak intercity services and for commuter services.
With Amtrak, the primary access agreements are between Amtrak and the host railroads, and
Amtrak's operating agreements govern relationships. Amtrak usually also provides all O&M
services for an intercity service, except for infrastructure maintenance and dispatching, which
are provided by the host railroad. The sponsoring state or local passenger rail agency does not
have hands-on, day-to-day responsibilities. In the case of commuter service, the state or local
agency has to work directly with the host railroad, while at the same time managing O&M
contractors.
5.2 Setting the Framework and General Points
for Ongoing Service Management
Agreements between a state or local government passenger rail agency, Amtrak (if inter-
city service), a host railroad, and an O&M contractor (if commuter service) have been dis-
cussed in Chapter 4. In all cases, the agreements must contain clauses that cover performance
monitoring; procedures for resolving service quality problems; and procedures for amend-
ing the access agreement to accommodate additional service, reduced journey times, and sim-
ilar changes, often linked to specific infrastructure investments. A discussion of each of these
subjects is provided in the following subsections. Note that while PRIIA gave the FRA and the
STB new powers and responsibilities in these areas, these U.S.DOT agencies were still work-
ing on detailed procedures for exercising these powers as this Guidebook was being finalized.
The requirements in PRIIA and the status of actions by the FRA, Amtrak, and the STB are
also summarized in the following paragraphs.
5.2.1 PRIIA Requirements and FRA, STB, and Amtrak Actions
on Intercity Passenger Service Quality
In response to frequent complaints and a marked deterioration in Amtrak service quality in
recent years, Congress added requirements in PRIIA for setting and enforcing adequate intercity
service standards:
· Section 207 of PRIIA is of primary importance; it tasks the FRA with developing performance
metrics for intercity passenger rail service, in cooperation with Amtrak and the STB. The FRA
published draft metrics early in 2009. In related actions, Amtrak is also advocating application
of metrics based on average train delay as described in Section 4.3 as Table 4-3 where service
performance as measured by delay statistics is tied to passenger rail agency investments in a rail
corridor. In this approach, host railroads are made responsible for corrective action where non-
compliance is attributable to the railroad.
· Section 213 states that the STB (1) may investigate service quality on any corridor where OTP
is less than 80 percent or is in violation of performance standards established under Section 207
of PRIIA and (2) shall investigate service quality on complaint by Amtrak, a passenger rail
agency that funds the service, the host railroad, or another operator on the same corridor.
Appropriate penalties can be imposed if the host railroad is found to be responsible for all or
some of the delays. The STB has held hearings on the implementation of procedures under this
section of PRIIA.
