§24321 Food and Beverage Service

Summary

Amtrak must set up a working group within 180 days after the Passenger Rail Expansion and Rail Safety Act of 2021 became law. The group must include people from Amtrak, the unions for employees who prepare or serve food on board, nonprofit passenger groups, and States that help pay for State-supported routes. Within 1 year after the group starts, it must send a report to the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee with recommendations on improving Amtrak’s food and drink service. The report must cover ways to help Amtrak’s finances, grow and keep ridership, meet the needs of long-distance, State-supported, and Northeast Corridor passengers, include Amtrak passenger survey data about food and drinks, suggest using local food on State-supported routes, and any other issues the group finds important. Within 180 days after that report, Amtrak must give the same committees a plan to carry out the recommendations and explain any recommendations it will not follow. Amtrak must not involuntarily remove any employee who held a position on a long-distance or Northeast Corridor route on the day the Act became law because of making or carrying out the plan.