AAR’s Hamberger calls on STB to promote, defend Staggers Act

Association of American Railroads President and CEO Edward Hamberger called on the Surface Transportation Board to withdraw pending proposals he says are not consistent with the deregulatory goals outlined in the Staggers Rail Act of 1980.    Association of American Railroads (AAR) President and CEO Edward Hamberger on Tuesday testified before the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) Regulatory Reform Task Force, stressing how the agency should work to promote and defend the economic regulatory structure Congress established through the Staggers Rail Act of 1980, which deregulated certain aspects of railroad pricing and routing.
   Hamberger called on the STB to withdraw pending proposals that are not consistent with the deregulatory goals outlined in the Staggers Act, including regulatory exemptions, forced switching, revenue adequacy, and the limit price test, AAR said in a statement.
   Following partial deregulation that removed “unnecessary, burdensome, and outdated regulations,” the private freight rail industry has invested more than $645 billion of private capital back into the nation’s 140,000-mile rail network, according to AAR. Since the Staggers Act was implemented, average rail rates have fallen by about 45 percent and train accidents have declined 78 percent, the association said.