Collapse to view only § 10102. Definitions
§ 10101. Rail transportation policy
In regulating the railroad industry, it is the policy of the United States Government—
(1) to allow, to the maximum extent possible, competition and the demand for services to establish reasonable rates for transportation by rail;
(2) to minimize the need for Federal regulatory control over the rail transportation system and to require fair and expeditious regulatory decisions when regulation is required;
(3) to promote a safe and efficient rail transportation system by allowing rail carriers to earn adequate revenues, as determined by the Board;
(4) to ensure the development and continuation of a sound rail transportation system with effective competition among rail carriers and with other modes, to meet the needs of the public and the national defense;
(5) to foster sound economic conditions in transportation and to ensure effective competition and coordination between rail carriers and other modes;
(6) to maintain reasonable rates where there is an absence of effective competition and where rail rates provide revenues which exceed the amount necessary to maintain the rail system and to attract capital;
(7) to reduce regulatory barriers to entry into and exit from the industry;
(8) to operate transportation facilities and equipment without detriment to the public health and safety;
(9) to encourage honest and efficient management of railroads;
(10) to require rail carriers, to the maximum extent practicable, to rely on individual rate increases, and to limit the use of increases of general applicability;
(11) to encourage fair wages and safe and suitable working conditions in the railroad industry;
(12) to prohibit predatory pricing and practices, to avoid undue concentrations of market power, and to prohibit unlawful discrimination;
(13) to ensure the availability of accurate cost information in regulatory proceedings, while minimizing the burden on rail carriers of developing and maintaining the capability of providing such information;
(14) to encourage and promote energy conservation; and
(15) to provide for the expeditious handling and resolution of all proceedings required or permitted to be brought under this part.
(Added Pub. L. 104–88, title I, § 102(a), Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 805.)
§ 10102. DefinitionsIn this part—
(1) “Board” means the Surface Transportation Board;
(2) “car service” includes (A) the use, control, supply, movement, distribution, exchange, interchange, and return of locomotives, cars, other vehicles, and special types of equipment used in the transportation of property by a rail carrier, and (B) the supply of trains by a rail carrier;
(3) “control”, when referring to a relationship between persons, includes actual control, legal control, and the power to exercise control, through or by (A) common directors, officers, stockholders, a voting trust, or a holding or investment company, or (B) any other means;
(4) “person”, in addition to its meaning under section 1 of title 1, includes a trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative of a person;
(5) “rail carrier” means a person providing common carrier railroad transportation for compensation, but does not include street, suburban, or interurban electric railways not operated as part of the general system of rail transportation;
(6) “railroad” includes—
(A) a bridge, car float, lighter, ferry, and intermodal equipment used by or in connection with a railroad;
(B) the road used by a rail carrier and owned by it or operated under an agreement; and
(C) a switch, spur, track, terminal, terminal facility, and a freight depot, yard, and ground, used or necessary for transportation;
(7) “rate” means a rate or charge for transportation;
(8) “State” means a State of the United States and the District of Columbia;
(9) “transportation” includes—
(A) a locomotive, car, vehicle, vessel, warehouse, wharf, pier, dock, yard, property, facility, instrumentality, or equipment of any kind related to the movement of passengers or property, or both, by rail, regardless of ownership or an agreement concerning use; and
(B) services related to that movement, including receipt, delivery, elevation, transfer in transit, refrigeration, icing, ventilation, storage, handling, and interchange of passengers and property; and
(10) “United States” means the States of the United States and the District of Columbia.
(Added Pub. L. 104–88, title I, § 102(a), Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 806.)