Amtrak Gets the Right to Sue Freight Railroads Directly to End Passenger Train Delays

If you’ve ever been stuck on an Amtrak train waiting for a slow-moving freight train to clear the track, this bill is for you. The Rail Passenger Fairness Act is a straightforward piece of legislation designed to fix a problem that costs passengers time and taxpayers money: freight railroads ignoring the law.

This bill gives Amtrak the legal muscle it needs to enforce its existing right to priority on the national rail network. Specifically, Section 3 authorizes Amtrak to file civil lawsuits in a U.S. District Court—the District of Columbia, to be exact—to seek an injunction or other relief to ensure freight railroads stop blocking passenger traffic. This is a big deal because, until now, only the Attorney General had this power, and they’ve used it exactly once since 1979.

Why Your Commute Is Stuck Behind a Cargo Container

When Amtrak was created back in 1970, part of the deal was that its passenger trains would get preference over freight trains on shared tracks, junctions, and crossings (49 U.S.C. § 24308(c)). This was supposed to keep things moving. However, the bill’s findings show that many freight railroads have been treating this rule like a suggestion, prioritizing their profitable cargo trains over scheduled passenger service.

This failure to follow the rules has massive real-world consequences. Between 2014 and 2019, 6.5 million Amtrak customers arrived late. The bill notes that nearly 70% of those delays—totaling 3.2 million minutes—were caused by host railroads putting freight first. Think about that: 3.2 million minutes of missed connections, lost work time, and stress, all because of an enforceable law that wasn’t being enforced.

The Cost of Being Late

This isn't just about making people wait; it’s about dollars and cents. When trains run late, Amtrak has to pay out more in operating costs and needs to replace equipment sooner. The bill cites reports suggesting that if Amtrak could just improve its on-time performance by 5% across all routes, it would save $12.1 million in the first year alone. If long-distance trains could hit just 75% on-time performance, the estimated savings jump to nearly $42 million in operating costs, plus a one-time equipment savings of $336 million.

This bill basically says: we know the law works when it's enforced. It points out that after a 2008 law strengthened enforcement, long-distance on-time performance jumped from 56% to 77%. But then, a 2014 court ruling weakened those enforcement tools, and performance immediately cratered from 72% down to 50%. This new Act is Congress’s attempt to restore that crucial enforcement mechanism by giving the victim—Amtrak—the direct ability to fight back in court.

What This Means for the Regular Traveler

For the everyday passenger, this bill means accountability. If it passes, Amtrak will no longer be forced to rely on the Attorney General to step in. It can immediately challenge freight railroads that consistently and systematically prioritize cargo over people. This should lead to dramatically improved on-time performance, making rail travel a more reliable option for everyone from the weekend traveler to the business commuter.

For the freight railroads, the calculus changes overnight. They now face the very real threat of direct, costly litigation every time they knowingly violate the priority rule. While they might argue in court that some delays are necessary, they lose the protection of knowing that Amtrak has no easy way to enforce its rights. This bill is a clear message: the days of treating passenger priority as optional are over.