Continuance Requested—and Granted—for Amtrak, CSX STB Hearing (UPDATED)

CSX Transportation, with Amtrak concurring, has asked the Surface Transportation Board for a continuance (postponement) of the evidentiary hearing on Gulf Coast service originally scheduled to begin March 9, 2022, to April 5, 2022, with a second day, April 6, and a third day, April 7, held in reserve. STB on March 1 granted the request.

“CSXT represents that Norfolk Southern, the Port of Mobile, and the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) do not oppose this request,” CSX said in STB filing 303984, dated Feb. 23, 2022. “The parties agree that it would preferable to not have the hearing continued beyond the first full week in April, if possible. CSXT does not lightly make this request, given the prior instructions by the Board regarding the procedural schedule and the agency’s workload. However, granting this request for a three-week delay to the hearing will avoid any prejudice to CSXT’s ability to put on an effective case in chief.

“Continuing the evidentiary hearing to April 5 will not delay resolution of this proceeding. During the pre-hearing conference, the Board acknowledged that the evidentiary hearing was likely to last more than two days based on the estimated examination time for each witness as well as opening and closing statements. While the parties were encouraged to work together to efficiently present their evidence, the Board repeatedly articulated its commitment that every party would have the time needed to present its evidentiary case. The Board also observed that if a third day was needed for the evidentiary hearing, the earliest the evidentiary hearing could resume would be the week of March 21, 2022, or later, depending on witness availability and the Board Members’ schedules. If the hearing were continued to April 5-6, the Board and the parties could reserve April 7 in the event a third day is necessary to complete the evidentiary presentations.”

At the Pre-Hearing Conference, STB Chair Martin Oberman said, “We’ve gotten to the question of which witnesses. As I have read everyone’s anticipated time expectations and I don’t mean to say this to criticize because I think it’s very hard to know that far in advance of a hearing exactly how examinations are going to go … if we add everything up, this case could never happen in two days. And if that much testimony is needed, it is not the Board’s plan to limit you to the two days that are scheduled … [T]here are a lot of complexities and I do not want to artificially cut off anybody, including Amtrak, from putting on the case they need to put on.”

CSXT also requested that the Board revise the following prehearing deadlines as follows:

• Joint Stipulation of Uncontested Facts: March 29, 2022
• Joint List of Issues to Be Decided: March 29, 2022
• Exhibit List/Visual Aids Exchanged: March 29, 2022
• Objections to Exhibits/Visual Aids: March 31, 2022
• Submission of Exhibits to Board: April 1, 2022

“The evidentiary hearing scheduled to begin on March 9, 2022 will be rescheduled for April 4 and 5, 2022, and will continue on April 6 and 8, 2022, if necessary,” STB said. The Board modified the deadlines for prehearing submissions, but moved them up one day from CSXT’s requested dates: 

• Joint Stipulation of Uncontested Facts: March 28, 2022 
• Joint List of Issues to Be Decided: March 28, 2022 
• Exhibit List/Visual Aids Exchanged: March 28, 2022 
• Objections to Exhibits/Visual Aids: March 30, 2022 
• Submission of Exhibits to the Board: March 30, 2022 

The request for a continuance may indicate, according to some industry observers, that CSX and Amtrak, the primary adversaries in what has evolved into a contentious, litigious situation, are willing resume negotiations and reach an agreement on Gulf Coast service without STB intervention.