The National Mediation Board (NMB), the agency authorized by the Railway Labor Act at 45 U.S.C. § 151, et seq., to interpret various provision of that Act, issued its Final Rule addressing the selection of a representative of a carrier’s employees.  The new rule, which takes effect on June 10, 2010, allows the NMB to certify the authorized representative of a craft or class of a carrier’s employees based on a majority of valid ballots cast in an election.  The old rule requires the affirmative vote of a majority of all eligible voters in a class or craft in order for such an election to be valid.  The rule applies once a dispute has arisen as to who may represent the employees and one or more parties to the dispute have requested that the NMB investigate the dispute and certify the representative.  The rule does not revise the requirements at 29 CFR 1206.2 to initially establish the existence of a representation dispute.  The Final Rule amends the NMB’s regulations at Sections 1202.4 and 1206.4 of 29 CFR.

A copy of the Final Rule is available here.

Click here to view the Special Alert.

FRA has announced that it will begin accepting applications for grants designed to cover costs related to the installation of Positive Train Control ("PTC").  The FRA notice of availability of funds can be found here. For further information please contact Allison Fultz or Chuck Spitulnik.

Eleven Northeastern House members introduced H.R. 4838 on March 12, 2010, to make Amtrak's corridor from Boston to Washington, D.C. eligible for federal grants to develop high-speed rail service under 49 U.S.C. 26106.  The Northeast Corridor is not among the 10 "high-speed corridors" designated as eligible to receive federal funds for the development of high-speed rail.  Amtrak's Acela trains currently operate in the corridor and provide the highest speed intercity passenger rail service currently available in the U.S.  Although Acela trains are designed to operate at top speeds of 150 miles per hour, the physical and operational constraints of the Northeast Corridor limit the average speed of the Acela to about half of that maximum.  The legislation seeks to provide funding for the "considerable investments" in infrastructure upgrades necessary to allow Acela service to operate at its full potential.

Both the House and Senate took up consideration of legislation on February 22, 2010, to place safety oversight of local passenger rail transit systems under federal jurisdiction.  The measures pending before Congress, H.R. 4643 and S. 3015, are based on a proposal submitted by FTA on December 9, 2009.  Currently, each transit system in the U.S. is subject to local safety oversight, with wide variation across the country in the legal authority and scope of enforcement vested in each governing body.  The legislation sets out three broad goals: First, it would require the Secretary of Transportation to establish and enforce minimum federal safety standards for rail transit systems not regulated by Federal Railroad Administration.  The legislation also provides the Secretary the option to establish a safety program for public transportation bus systems.  Second, the Secretary would establish a program under which a State would be eligible for federal transit financial assistance to carry out a federally-approved public transportation safety program.  A state would not be preempted from establishing a more stringent safety standard if the standard meets certain criteria, and the Department of Transportation would enforce the federal safety standards if a State were to elect not to participate in the safety program.  Third, the program would ensure that a State agency overseeing transit systems would be fully financially independent from the transit systems it oversees.

A copy of the House Bill as introduced is available here.

A copy of the Senate Bill as introduced is available here.

President Obama and Vice President Biden announced the award of nearly $8 billion in federal funds to initiate the planning and development of high speed rail corridors around the nation.  Funding had been authorized in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  More than half will be aimed at developing new, large-scale high-speed rail programs.  California received the largest single share, of up to $2.25 billion, for its planned project to connect Los Angeles to San Francisco and points in between with trains running up to 220 miles per hour.  Florida will receive up to $1.25 billion to develop a new high-speed rail corridor between Tampa and Orlando with trains running up to 168 miles per hour.  Approximately $1.1 billion has been allocated to upgrade existing track between Chicago and St. Louis to permit trains to travel at up to 110 miles per hour.  The remaining $3.4 billion is allocated among projects to serve corridors in Madison-Milwaukee-Chicago, Charlotte to Washington, D.C., Eugene, OR, to Seattle, Detroit to Chicago, Cleveland to Cincinnati, and in the Northeast.

A summary of all high speed rail grants is available here.

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) heard oral argument in a case challenging the validity of a mechanism used for nearly 20 years by public transit and commuter operator agencies to acquire active freight rail corridors free of STB oversight.  Since 1991, the Board has authorized agencies operating passenger service to acquire the real estate and physical assets in a rail corridor without taking on the associated common carrier obligation as long as another party remains responsible for conducting freight service on the line.  A group of unions has argued that the Interstate Commerce Act and Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act do not create separate interests in the operating rights and physical plant of a line of railroad, and that acquisition of the physical assets therefore is subject to STB jurisdiction.  If the Board adopts the unions' arguments and limits or reverses its existing approach, the impact on future transactions by passenger rail agencies to acquire active freight rail lines will be significant.