To permit Amtrak to bring civil actions in Federal district court to enforce the right set forth in section 24308(c) of title 49, United States Code, which gives intercity and commuter rail passenger transportation preference over freight transportation in using a rail line, junction, or crossing, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
Authorizes Amtrak to bring civil actions in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to enforce its statutory rail-preference rights over freight traffic, supplementing the Attorney General's existing authority.
Who Benefits and How
Amtrak and passenger-rail riders could benefit from a more direct mechanism to enforce statutory preference rights and potentially improve on-time performance on host freight railroads.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Host freight railroads could face more enforcement litigation, and federal courts would become a more active venue for preference-rights disputes brought directly by Amtrak.
Key Provisions
- States detailed findings about Amtrak's history, statutory preference rights, host-railroad delays, and the relationship between enforceability and on-time performance.
- Authorizes Amtrak to bring actions for equitable or other relief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to enforce passenger-rail preference rights under 49 U.S.C. 24308(c).
- Preserves the Attorney General's separate authority by amending 49 U.S.C. 24103 accordingly.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Authorizes Amtrak to bring civil actions in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to enforce its statutory rail-preference rights over freight traffic, supplementing the Attorney General's existing authority.
Key Policy Areas
Transportation, Civil Procedure, Government Operations
Primary Purpose
Authorizes Amtrak to bring civil actions in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to enforce its statutory rail-preference rights over freight traffic, supplementing the Attorney General's existing authority.
Policy Domains
Main Provisions
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Amtrak and passenger-rail users seeking stronger enforcement of passenger-train preference
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Host railroads and courts handling additional preference-rights litigation
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Deluzio (for himself, Mr. Boyle of Pennsylvania, and Mrs. …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Amtrak, Host Railroads
Positive-direction: Amtrak
Negative-direction: Host Railroads
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology