STB-funded initiative aims to address inability to agree on new commuter contracts
WASHINGTON – The Surface Transportation Board has ordered Union Pacific and Metra to enter mediation because they could not agree on financial terms for some aspects of a contract to maintain commuter rail service on three Metra routes using Union Pacific lines.
In a decision released Wednesday, Aug. 14, the board approved Union Pacific’s request by a 4-0 vote. The two sides said both sides have made significant progress in negotiations since 2019, but that mediation, promoted by the board, could help reach an agreement. Metra argued the move was premature and that negotiations had stalled because UP had failed to provide the financial information needed to evaluate UP’s proposal. Mediation is to be completed within 60 days of the appointment of a mediator, but can be extended upon mutual written request.
Union Pacific announced last March that it had begun the process of “safely and seamlessly transferring” its commuter service to Metra (see “Union Pacific Announces Start of Transition…”) Trains News Wire, March 30, 2023). These have long been operated by the railroad under a service agreement – essentially a subsidy to the railroad to provide staff, workshops and maintenance workers to operate and maintain the commuter trains. After the transfer is complete, Metra will employ operating staff, mechanical and rolling stock maintenance workers, and most of the other commuter workers currently employed by UP; Union Pacific will continue to maintain and dispatch the West, Northwest and North lines used by Metra trains.
Some senior executives began making the transition to Metra even before the announcement, but the process was complicated by both the financial issues that had to be resolved in the mediation and labor issues for current Union Pacific employees, for whom a move to the commuter bus operator could mean changes in seniority and salary.
