FOR RELEASE
Contact: Janie Sheng (202) 245-0221
12/31/2014 (Wednesday)
Janie Sheng
No. 14-21


FedRelay 1 (800) 877-8339
www.stb.gov
STB PROPOSES RULE REQUIRING CLASS I RAILROADS TO PUBLICLY FILE WEEKLY DATA REPORTS ON SERVICE PERFORMANCE


The Surface Transportation Board announced today that it has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing new regulations requiring all Class I railroads and the Chicago Transportation Coordination Office, through its Class I members, to report certain service performance metrics to the Board on a weekly basis. Today’s action originates from the Board’s temporary data collection order issued on October 8 in United States Rail Service Issues – Data Collection, EP 724 (Sub-No. 3).

The Notice follows concerns expressed at public Board hearings and in other communications; data collected by the Board in United States Rail Service Issues, EP 724 (Sub-No. 3); and the agency’s recognition of the need for standardized performance data. The collection of performance data on a weekly basis would allow the Board not only to better understand current service issues, but also to more quickly identify and help resolve possible future regional or national service disruptions. Transparency would also benefit rail shippers and stakeholders by helping them to better plan operations and make informed decisions based on publicly available, near real-time data, and their own analysis of performance trends over time.

Today’s decision proposing the weekly reporting of certain performance metrics to the Board was issued in United States Rail Service Issues—Performance Data Reporting, Docket No. EP 724 (Sub-No. 4). That decision may be viewed and downloaded at the STB’s website, www.stb.dot.gov, under “E-LIBRARY / Decisions & Notices / 12/ 30 /14 “.
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