Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials

NJ Transit President and CEO Kevin Corbett (on behalf of the Northeast Corridor Commission) testifies before the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. on April 17. (Screenshot Courtesy of the T&I House Committee)

Subcommittee Digs Into Commuter Rail Industry

The House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, Rail Subcommittee held a hearing on April 17, “Getting to Work: Examining Challenges and Solutions in the Commuter Rail Industry,” hearing testimony from Northern Indiana

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials called a June 14 hearing to address rail safety. Pictured: Subcommittee Chair Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-N.J.).

For House Rail Subcommittee, an Earful on Safety

“Examining Freight Rail Safety” was the theme of a June 14 hearing of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. The aim: for members “to hear from government and stakeholder witnesses about the state of freight rail safety and issues pertinent to keeping rail operations, rail workers and communities safe.” Railway Age provides a roundup.

T&I STB Reauthorization Hearing Deja Vu All Over Again

The House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure hearing, “Board Member Views on Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization,” was for the most part a rehash of the topics that the STB has been covering in its own hearings on freight rail service problems, reciprocal switching and other areas the industry has had to address in recent weeks. T&I Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who is not seeking re-election in this year’s mid-terms, and Railroad, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Chair Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.) chaired the hearing, which in a press release was couched as “The Surface Transportation Board’s Role in Resolving Freight Rail Conflicts.”

House T&I to STB: Look before you leap

On March 25-26, 2014, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) will hold a public hearing on a petition by the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) to modify STB’s standards for mandatory competitive switching. The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has sent a bipartisan letter to STB Chairman Dan Elliot and Vice Chairman Ann Begeman indirectly urging them to consider the consequences for railroads should the Board accept NITL’s proposal, and strongly voicing the Committee’s intent to oppose such a policy change.