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6/19/2025
U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) yesterday reintroduced the proposed Reliable Rail Service Act to address unreliable service and the cost of rail shipping for farmers, manufacturers and other businesses.
The bill would address high costs and unreliable service by clarifying the “common carrier obligation” which under current law requires rail carriers to serve the wider shipping public “on reasonable request," the senators said in a press release.
The legislation establishes specific criteria for the Surface Transportation Board to consider when evaluating whether carriers are meeting their common carrier obligation to give shippers much-needed certainty that is currently lacking, they said.
Current ambiguity around the common carrier obligation has contributed to insufficient rail services and "exorbitant costs" for American products to get to market, they added.
The legislation has been endorsed by several industry trade associations and labor organizations.
“Clarification of the common carrier obligation has been needed for decades and this bipartisan bill provides STB with clear oversight rules to help address our nation’s freight railroad supply chain challenges and improve rail service for agricultural shippers,” said Mike Seyfert, president and CEO of the National Grain and Feed Association.
The legislation was introduced in the 118th Congress but did not pass.