The Surface Transportation Board is extending the deadline for industry stakeholders to reply to feedback that the board received on its proposed rule for reciprocal switching.
Industry stakeholders can now take until Dec. 20 to respond to comments given by other stakeholders on the board’s notice for proposed rulemaking on reciprocal switching, which STB describes as a potential remedy to address poor rail service. STB extended the deadline by 14 days; the original deadline was Dec. 6. Meetings that stakeholders can conduct with the board will also be extended through Nov. 30.
A group of rail shippers had approached the board last Thursday — with support from the Class I railroads — and asked for extending the reply deadline in light of all the comments that STB received on its proposal for reciprocal switching.
“The volume of comments submitted by the Railroads and other stakeholders is substantial. Stakeholders have submitted thousands of pages of documents in the opening round of comments that must be reviewed and considered by all interested parties, including the Board,” said attorneys representing the American Chemistry Council, The Fertilizer Institute and the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL). “A sufficient amount of time to respond to these opening comments is necessary to develop a record that will allow the Board to make a sound, informed decision.”
Reciprocal switching is a process that would grant a shipper with access to the network of another Class I railroad at an interchange, with the idea that the shipment would continue on the network of the competing Class I railroad because of lackluster service on the originating Class I railroad.
The board first heard the calls to allow reciprocal switching in the U.S. more than a decade ago when the NITL brought the issue before the board in July 2012.
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Related links:
STB gets earful on proposed rule for reciprocal switching
‘More needs to be done to promote freight rail competition’
Reciprocal switching proposal gets mixed reactions from rail shippers
STB takes long-awaited step in addressing rail service standards
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