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CURE is concerned about the enormous inadequacies of the STB's rate reasonableness process. The consolidation in the rail industry, combined with several ICC/STB non-competitive policies, has prevented the development of effective competition and has led to the railroads’ failure to serve. Rail customers are not seeking changes to the fundamental principles of the current regulatory system. Rather, they would like to see several significant "fixes" to balance out the positions between the railroads and rail customers.
Bill Summaries and Co-Sponsor Lists
Congressional Activities and Hearings
Selected Testimony
Proposed Customer Solutions:
- Repeal the antiquated antitrust exemptions of the freight rail industry;
- Reverse the ruling established in the "bottleneck" case by requiring railroads to quote rates to their customers between any two points on their system where traffic can originate, terminate or be interchanged;
- Remove the agency-imposed "monopoly abuse" test from the statutory "public interest" test for competitive access;
- Remove “paper barriers” that prevent short-line railroads from moving customer traffic to competing major railroads;
- Cap filing fees at the same level as those for federal district courts to provide accessibility for rail customers challenging captive rates; and
- Distribute the burden of proof more equitably between the railroad and the rail customer in the rate challenge process.
- Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009, S. 146/H.R. 233
- Railroad Competition and Service Improvement Act of 2007, S. 953/H.R 2125
Visit the Bill Summaries and Co-sponsor Lists section of the website for more details on this legislation.
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