New House Bill Targets Late Commuter Trains

by Sean Jeans-Gail, Vice President of Gov't Aaffairs + Policy

New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) introduced a bill this week that aims to assist train passengers suffering from delays on Amtrak-owned infrastructure.

Rep. Gottheimer announced the bill following a summer that saw a massive spike in delays for New Jersey Transit (NJT) trains operating over Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC). Many of these delays correlated with a series of record-breaking heat waves, which stressed aged rail infrastructure. Rail Passengers Association President Jim Mathews discussed this trend in a recent New York Times analysis of increasing weather-related train delays.

Amtrak, for its part, emphasized it is already putting billions in funding from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to work on projects that address the NEC’s state of good repair backlog (estimated at $41.8 billion in a 2022 NEC Capital Investment Plan). These investments include replacing more than 75,500 railroad ties, replacing 32 track miles of rail, improving track stability on more than 170 miles of track, and renewing more than 35 track switches.

However, these investments came too late for passengers this summer, who were subjected to hundreds of delays attributed to Amtrak-owned infrastructure. That includes 415 Amtrak-attributed delays in June alone.

[Image courtesy NJT]

“These delays and cancellations are a headache for commuters, a real obstacle for our transit system, and frankly, a drain on our entire state. I hear from my constituents every day that something has got to give,” said Rep. Gottheimer. “Today, to help get our trains back on track, and help stop the misery for commuters and families, I’m announcing new action to help reduce the NJ Transit delays. For the sake of our Jersey and our entire region, it’s time to start solving problems.”

(It's important to note that, outside of the NEC, around a fifth of delay minutes can be attributed to Amtrak operations and infrastructure. The majority of delays stem from host railroad operations and freight train interference.)

The bill will look to implement policies that guarantees Amtrak passengers and commuter passengers automatically receive full refunds “when their trains are canceled or significantly changed by more than three hours” due to an Amtrak-caused delay. The bill also requires Amtrak to submit a report on alternative maintenance strategies to Congress within six months of enactment.

The refund provision is similar to a proposal included in our Rail Passenger Bill of Rights. Rail Passengers’ proposal also includes broader protections for passengers—including rights for passengers with disabilities, right to information, and right to quality on-board services—and our staff is currently communicating with Rep. Gottheimer’s office to explore opportunities to cooperate.