STB names Moyer acting director of passenger-rail office

The Surface Transportation Board yesterday announced it has named senior staff member Neil Moyer to serve as acting director of the board’s new Office of Passenger Rail.

Established Oct. 1, the office is responsible for investigating and analyzing Amtrak on-time performance (OTP) issues.

Since last year, Moyer has coordinated the board’s new OTP responsibilities and assisted in setting up the new office. He is a recognized expert in issues involving Amtrak and passenger-rail service in the United States, STB officials said in a press release.

A section of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) authorizes, and on eligible complaint requires, the STB to investigate the causes of substandard passenger-rail OTP, to identify mitigating measures, and, under specified conditions, to prescribe relief.

In late 2020, the Federal Railroad Administration, in conjunction with Amtrak, promulgated a “customer OTP” metric to measure passenger-rail OTP, which includes a standard that requires 80% of passenger arrivals at stations to occur within 15 minutes of the scheduled time. The Office of Passenger Rail was established to fulfill the STB’s responsibilities under that standard, which went into effect July 1, 2021.

PRIIA requires as a precondition for an STB OTP investigation that there be two consecutive quarters of substandard OTP. Complaints may be brought by Amtrak, by an entity for which Amtrak operates intercity passenger-rail service, by an intercity passenger-rail operator or by a host freight railroad over which Amtrak operates.