Bill · H.R. 5570· House(119-HR-5570)
Rail Passenger Fairness Act
- Introduced
- 9/26/2025
- Last activity
- 12/1/2025 — Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
- Sponsored by
- Christopher Deluzio
- Cosponsors
- - 2 - 0
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
The Rail Passenger Fairness Act aims to allow Amtrak to bring civil actions in Federal district court to enforce its right to passenger rail preference over freight transportation. Currently, under title 49 of the United States Code, only the Attorney General has the authority to initiate such actions. The bill seeks to address issues where host railroads allegedly ignore Amtrak's preference, leading to poor on-time performance. This decline in performance has reportedly resulted in significant passenger delays and wasted taxpayer dollars. By allowing Amtrak to enforce these rights directly, the bill intends to help the agency meet its mandated mission of providing competitive service.
Yes
Does this improve buses, trains and other public transport?+6
The bill improves rail passenger service by allowing Amtrak to enforce its preference over freight, leading to better on-time performance.
Does this reduce what the federal government spends?+5
By improving Amtrak's on-time performance, the bill aims to achieve significant operational and equipment replacement cost savings.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
- Improved On-Time Performance: The bill aims to address poor on-time performance and passenger delays caused by freight train interference (Section 2, Paragraph 5 and 6).
- Cost Savings for Taxpayers: Improving on-time performance could lead to significant cost savings for Amtrak, including $12,100,000 in the first year for a 5 percent improvement and up to $336,000,000 in one-time savings due to reduced equipment replacement needs (Section 2, Paragraph 7).
- Enhanced Passenger Service: By providing an effective mechanism to enforce preference rights, the bill helps Amtrak fulfill its mission to provide on-time and trip-time competitive service to passengers (Section 2, Paragraph 9).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
- No specific negative impacts are explicitly listed in the text provided.
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Environment Energy And Infrastructure
- Improves Public Transit+6
- Economy And Finance
- Reduces Government Spending+5
- 12/1/2025
- Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
- 9/26/2025
- Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
- 2 Cosponsors added.
- Introduced in House
Brendan BoyleDemocrat · Pennsylvania
LaMonica McIverDemocrat · New Jersey