3

1 shall immediately develop preliminary recommendations for 2 a route structure for the Corporation which will provide an 3 optimal intercity railroad passenger system, based upon cur4 rent and future market and population requirements, includ5 ing where appropriate portions of the Corporation's existing 6 route structure. In developing such recommendations, the 7 Secretary shall consider the adequacy of other transportation 8 modes serving the same points to be served by the recom9 mended route system:

10

(1) any unique characteristics and advantages of

11 rail service as compared to other modes of transporta

12

= 2 3

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tion;

(2) the role that rail passenger service can play in helping meet the Nation's transportation needs while furthering national energy conservation efforts;

(3) the relationship of benefits of given services to the costs of providing such services, computing the costs in loss or profit per passenger mile rather than total loss

or profit per route;

(4) the transportation needs of areas lacking adequate alternative forms of transportation; and

(5) frequency and fare structure alternatives and

the impact of such alternatives on ridership, revenues, and expenses of rail passenger service.

(b) The Secretary shall, no later than May 1, 1978,

4

1 develop and publish the preliminary recommendations de2 scribed in subsection (a) and submit a copy of such rec3 cmmendations to the Rail Services Planning Office and to both Houses of Congress. The Secretary shall at that time 5 also provide copies of the preliminary recommendations to 6 the Corporation, the Office of Rail Public Counsel, the In7 terstate Commerce Commission, the Secretary of Energy, 8 the Governors, Departments of Transportation, and Public 9 Utilities Commissions of each State in which rail passenger 10 service is proposed to be modified, the railroads affected 11 by such recommendations, the labor organizations duly 12 authorized under the Railway Labor Act to represent rail13 road employees, and the United States Postal Service. In 14 addition, copies of the preliminary recommendations shall 15 be made available by the Secretary to interested persons at 16 a reasonable cost. Such recommendations shall include

(1) a recommended route system by end points

and principal intermediate points to be served;

(2) quality and type of service recommended for each route, including frequency, speed, and classes of services offered;

(3) ranges of projected operating expenses, rider

ship, and revenues, by route, including a measure calcu

lated by loss or profit per passenger mile and separated

5

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

for non-State supported routes and State supported

routes;

(4) an estimate of the equipment and facilities necessary to support the recommended system;

(5) a recommended plan for coordinating passenger rail service at points on the system with other modes of transportation serving such points; and

(6) based upon the route level projections, and estimate of operating and capital appropriations required to operate the system for fiscal years 1980 through 1984. (c) During the period beginning May 1, 1978, and end12 ing August 31, 1978, the Rail Services Planning Office shall 13 conduct public hearings on the preliminary recommendations 14 developed by the Secretary under this section. Such public 15 hearings shall be held in such places and at such times as the 16 Office determines will afford the affected States and commu17 nities the greatest opportunity to participate. During such 18 period, in addition to holding public hearings, the Office shall 19 invite comment on such recommendations from the Corpora20 tion, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Secretary 21 of Energy, the Governors, Departments of Transportation, 22 and Public Utilities of each State in which rail passenger serv23 ice is proposed to be modified, the railroads affected by such 24 recommendations, the labor organizations authorized under

6

1 the Railway Labor Act to represent railroad employees, in2 terested citizens groups, and the United States Postal Service. 3 If, following submission of such preliminary recommenda4 tions by the Secretary, either House of Congress passes a 5 resolution disapproving them, the Rail Services Planning Of6 fice shall suspend any public hearings scheduled pursuant 7 hereto, and the Secretary shall prepare revised preliminary 8 recommendations to be submitted for hearings and comments 9 in accordance with subsection (b) hereof and this subsection. 10 A resolution disapproving the preliminary recommendations 11 may modify the dates for submissions stated in subsections 12 (d) and (e) (1) hereof.

13

(d) The Rail Service Planning Office shall, no later 14 than September 30, 1978, submit to the Secretary a sum

15

mary and analysis of the evidence received in the course of 16 its proceedings conducted under subsection (c), together 17 with its critique and evaluation of the preliminary recom18 mendations of the Secretary. The Secretary shall thoroughly 19 consider the material submitted by the Office with respect to 20 such recommendations and, based on such consideration 21 (and further evaluations of the Secretary), develop final 22 recommendations for a route structure for the Corporation. as he deems appropriate. Such final recommendations shall 24 include a summary of the significant recommendations re

23

7

1 ceived, together with the reasons for adopting or not adopt2 ing any such recommendation.

5

3 (e) (1) The Secretary shall, no later than December 31, 4 1978, submit the final recommendations designating the basic route system, together with supporting and explanatory 6 material, to both Houses of the Congress and to the Commit7 tee on Appropriations and the Committee on Interstate and 8 Foreign Commerce of the House of Representatives and the 9 Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Com10 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. The final 11 recommendations shall be deemed approved and shall take 12 effect only upon the adoption by both the House of Repre13 sentatives and the Senate of a resolution approving such final 14 recommendations. If, following submission of the final rec15 ommendations by the Secretary, either House of the Con16 gress passes a resolution disapproving such recommendations, 17 the Secretary shall prepare revised final recommendations. 18 All such revised final recommendations shall be submitted to 19 both Houses of Congress and the committees herein named 20 for approval in accordance with this subsection.

21

(2) Pending approval of the final recommendations 22 developed by the Secretary under this section and notwith23 standing any other provision of law, the route system of the 24 Corporation in effect on January 1, 1978, may not be modi