The federal government is working on a regulation to make the trains run on time.
The Department of Transportation’s Surface Transportation Board announced Wednesday that it will commence a "proceeding to define ‘on-time performance’" for rail.
"The Association of American Railroads (AAR) submitted a conditional petition for rulemaking to define ‘on-time performance’ for purposes of Section 213 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA), 49 U.S.C. 24308(f)," a notice posted in the Federal Register said. "The Board concludes that it is appropriate to institute a rulemaking proceeding to define on-time performance for purposes of PRIIA Section 213 and invite public participation. The Board intends to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking and a procedural schedule in a subsequent decision."
"This action will not significantly affect either the quality of the human environment or the conservation of energy resources," it said.
The Surface Transportation Board said providing a definition for "on-time performance" of trains through the regulatory process is consistent with what "Congress intended" by passing the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act in 2008.
The regulation stems from a lawsuit filed by Amtrak against Canadian National Railway’s (CN), which argued that rail lines owned by CN were causing delays for Amtrak trains. Though litigation is ongoing, the Surface Transportation Board decided it should institute a federal definition for "on-time performance," rather than it being decided in court.
The effort to "make the trains run on time" is commonly associated with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s Fascist propaganda in the 1930s and 40s.
Like Mussolini’s Italy, U.S. passenger rail often faces delays.