Passenger Trains > Metra-Amtrak CUS dispute settled

Chicago Sun-Times

By David Roeder
Aug 17, 2021,

Federal regulators have settled a landlord-tenant dispute between Amtrak and Metra over the rent for Union Station, with neither side complaining that it’s been railroaded.


The federal Surface Transportation Board, in a Tuesday announcement, decided financial terms for the commuter railroad’s continued use of Union Station, which Amtrak owns. It ordered Metra to pay about an additional $1 million a year, bringing its annual rent to $10.67 million, with yearly increases tied to inflation.

The board’s order settles a dispute dating from at least 2019. A sticking point was how to share the cost of capital improvements when Metra — at least before COVID-19 — accounted for the vast majority of people passing through the terminal.

The federal agency, which decides fights between railroads, essentially split the difference on each side’s fiscal arguments. Amtrak had wanted Metra to pay $14.79 million a year, while Metra countered with $6.74 million.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/8/17/22629811/amtrak-metra-ties-union-station-rent-dispute-settled-surface-transportation-board

I wonder how this compares with the rents charged by Amtrak to Connecticut DOT (to Shoreliner, etc), to MBTA at South Station, and to NJ Transit and Long Island Rail Road at NY Penn? And others like 30th Street, Baltimore, DC, etc.

LIRR, through the East River tunnels, and in Penn Station, has a Joint Operating Agreement with Amtrak, which is quite a bit more powerful than simply paying for trackage rights and rent, and staffs the NY Penn Control Center by 50%. 

Amtrak does not charge rent at South Station. South Station is owned by MassDOT. The MBTA also owns the corridor to the Rhode Island border, however Amtrak owns all overhead catenary infrastructure. 

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> I wonder how this compares with the rents charged
> by Amtrak to Connecticut DOT (to Shoreliner, etc),
> to MBTA at South Station, and to NJ Transit and
> Long Island Rail Road at NY Penn? And others like
> 30th Street, Baltimore, DC, etc.