Key Takeaways
- A Department of Justice complaint accused Norfolk Southern of causing widespread delays of Amtrak trains along a route from New York City to New Orleans.
- The company is required by law to give preference to passenger trains over freight trains.
- Norfolk dispatchers allegedly routinely made Amtrak trains wait for the company’s slow-moving freight trains to pass.
Norfolk Southern (NSC) was accused by the Department of Justice (DOJ) of illegally delaying Amtrak trains, according to a complaint filed Monday.
The company is required under federal law to give preference to passenger trains over freight trains, but just 24% of southbound passenger trains traveling along Amtrak’s Crescent route between New York City and New Orleans reached their destination on time, the complaint alleged.
Widespread Delays, Hurting Amtrak’s Bottom Line
The DOJ said Norfolk’s dispatching “regularly” led to widespread delays that inconvenienced customers and hurt Amtrak’s bottom line. The department cited a train in January that was delayed for nearly an hour outside New Orleans because Norfolk ordered it to follow behind a slower freight train, and another instance when dispatchers made an Amtrak train wait more than an hour for three freight trains to pass.
“For half a century, federal law has required freight rail companies to give Amtrak passenger rail service preference on their tracks — yet compliance with this important law has been uneven at best,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “We will continue to engage the railroad industry and work with Amtrak to ensure that freight railroads comply with their legal obligations and that Amtrak customers are not subjected to unacceptable, unnecessary, and unlawful delays.”
A spokesperson for Norfolk Southern said the company is “committed to complying with the law.”
“Over the past several months with Amtrak, we have focused on the on-time performance of the Crescent passenger train,” Norfolk Southern said. “We hope to resolve these concerns and continue to make progress together.”
Shares of Norfolk Southern finished 0.8% higher at $249.63 Tuesday, and have gained close to 6% since the start of the year.