§24321. Food and beverage service

(a) Working Group.—

(1) Establishment.—Not later than 180 days after enactment of the Passenger Rail Expansion and Rail Safety Act of 2021, Amtrak shall establish a working group to provide recommendations to improve Amtrak's onboard food and beverage service.

(2) Membership.—The working group shall consist of individuals representing—

(A) Amtrak;

(B) the labor organizations representing Amtrak employees who prepare or provide on-board food and beverage service;

(C) nonprofit organizations representing Amtrak passengers; and

(D) States that are providing funding for State-supported routes.

(b) Report.—Not later than 1 year after the establishment of the working group pursuant to subsection (a), the working group shall submit 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 containing recommendations for improving Amtrak's food and beverage service, including—

(1) ways to improve the financial performance of Amtrak;

(2) ways to increase and retain ridership;

(3) the differing needs of passengers traveling on long-distance routes, State supported routes, and the Northeast Corridor;

(4) Amtrak passenger survey data about the food and beverages offered on Amtrak trains;

(5) ways to incorporate local food and beverage items on State-supported routes; and

(6) any other issue that the working group determines to be appropriate.

(c) Implementation.—Not later than 180 days after the submission of the report pursuant to subsection (b), Amtrak shall submit a plan for implementing the recommendations of the working group, and an explanation for any of the working group's recommendations it does not agree with and does not plan on implementing to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives.

(d) Savings Clause.—Amtrak shall ensure that no Amtrak employee who held a position on a long-distance or Northeast Corridor route as of the date of enactment of the Passenger Rail Expansion and Rail Safety Act of 2021, is involuntarily separated because of the development and implementation of the plan required under this section.

(Added Pub. L. 114–94, div. A, title XI, §11207(a), Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1638; amended Pub. L. 116–159, div. B, title I, §1104(a), Oct. 1, 2020, 134 Stat. 727; Pub. L. 117–58, div. B, title II, §22208(b)(1), Nov. 15, 2021, 135 Stat. 706.)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Enactment of the Passenger Rail Expansion and Rail Safety Act of 2021, referred in subsec. (a)(1), probably means the date of enactment of the Passenger Rail Expansion and Rail Safety Act of 2021, which is the date of enactment of title II of div. B of Pub. L. 117–58 and was approved Nov. 15, 2021.

The date of enactment of the Passenger Rail Expansion and Rail Safety Act of 2021, referred to in subsec. (d), is the date of enactment of title II of div. B of Pub. L. 117–58, which was approved Nov. 15, 2021.

Amendments

2021—Pub. L. 117–58 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section related to Amtrak's development and implementation of plan to eliminate operating loss associated with providing food and beverage service on board Amtrak trains.

2020—Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 116–159 redesignated subsec. (e) as (d) and struck out former subsec. (d). Text read as follows: "Beginning on the date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2015, no Federal funds may be used to cover any operating loss associated with providing food and beverage service on a route operated by Amtrak or a rail carrier that operates a route in lieu of Amtrak pursuant to section 24711."

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective Oct. 1, 2015, see section 1003 of Pub. L. 114–94, set out as an Effective Date of 2015 Amendment note under section 5313 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.