SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

The Surface Transportation Board today announced that it has selected senior staff member, Neil Moyer, to serve as acting director of the Board’s Office of Passenger Rail (OPR).  The office was established on October 1, 2022, and is responsible for investigating and analyzing issues regarding Amtrak on-time performance (OTP).  Since last year, Mr. Moyer, a recognized expert in issues involving Amtrak and passenger rail service in the United States, has performed an integral role in coordinating the Board’s new OTP responsibilities and in assisting the Board in establishing the new office.

Section 213 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) authorizes, and on eligible complaint requires, the STB to investigate the causes of substandard passenger rail OTP, to identify mitigating measures, and, under specified conditions, to prescribe relief.  In late 2020, the FRA, in conjunction with Amtrak, promulgated a “Customer OTP” metric to measure passenger rail OTP, which includes a standard that requires 80 percent of passenger arrivals at stations to occur within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.  This standard began to apply on July 1, 2021.  PRIIA requires as a precondition for an STB OTP investigation that there be two consecutive quarters of substandard OTP.  Complaints may be brought by Amtrak, by an entity for which Amtrak operates intercity passenger rail service, by an intercity passenger rail operator, or by a host freight railroad over which Amtrak operates.  The OPR, which Mr. Moyer will head as acting director, has been established to fulfill the Board’s responsibilities under the new statutory regime.

###