§24321 Food and beverage service

Summary

Amtrak must create a working group within 180 days after the Passenger Rail Expansion and Rail Safety Act of 2021 becomes law. The group must include people from Amtrak, the unions for employees who make or serve food and drinks on trains, nonprofit passenger groups, and States that pay for State‑supported routes. Within 1 year after the group starts, it must send a report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives with recommendations on improving onboard food and drink service. The report must cover ways to boost Amtrak’s finances and ridership, the different needs of long‑distance, State‑supported, and Northeast Corridor travelers, passenger survey data about food and drinks, how to add local items on State‑supported routes, and any other appropriate issues. Within 180 days after that report, Amtrak must send a plan to the same Committees saying how it will put the recommendations into action and explaining any recommendations it will not follow. Amtrak must not involuntarily lay off any employee who held a job on a long‑distance or Northeast Corridor route as of the law’s enactment because of making or carrying out the plan.