William W.
Lead Service Attendant
SCOTUS has agreed to hear the lawsuit over the law that requires Amtrak trains to receive dispatching priority, and allows for the railroads to be fined if they are found in violation of the law.
It'll definitely be interesting to see how this unfolds. If the Supreme Court rules the law unconstitutional, does it mean that Amtrak's trains will be forevermore late? I'd imagine that the freight companies would use the decision to disrupt the operation of the LD trains as much as possible, with the eventual goal of driving them off the rails completely.
On the other hand, if the law is upheld, it will hopefully give Amtrak the muscle that it needs to force the freight companies to follow the law. We could potentially see a big jump in OTP if the law is upheld.
I'm not a lawyer(yet), but I've studied enough to know that Amtrak should have a pretty strong case here. If the government can make the case that Amtrak is a federal entity, and not a detached corporation, they should be able to use the commerce clause pretty successfully.
Thoughts, anyone?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-23/amtrak-rulemaking-clash-draws-scrutiny-from-supreme-court.html
It'll definitely be interesting to see how this unfolds. If the Supreme Court rules the law unconstitutional, does it mean that Amtrak's trains will be forevermore late? I'd imagine that the freight companies would use the decision to disrupt the operation of the LD trains as much as possible, with the eventual goal of driving them off the rails completely.
On the other hand, if the law is upheld, it will hopefully give Amtrak the muscle that it needs to force the freight companies to follow the law. We could potentially see a big jump in OTP if the law is upheld.
I'm not a lawyer(yet), but I've studied enough to know that Amtrak should have a pretty strong case here. If the government can make the case that Amtrak is a federal entity, and not a detached corporation, they should be able to use the commerce clause pretty successfully.
Thoughts, anyone?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-23/amtrak-rulemaking-clash-draws-scrutiny-from-supreme-court.html