Title 49
SECTION 269.9
269.9 Bid process.
§ 269.9 Bid process.(a) Notification. FRA will notify the eligible petitioner and Amtrak of receipt of a petition filed with FRA and will publish a notice of receipt in the Federal Register not later than 30 days after FRA's receipt of such petition.
(b) Bid requirements. An eligible petitioner that has filed a timely petition under § 269.7 and Amtrak, if Amtrak desires, may file a bid with FRA not later than 120 days after FRA publishes the notice of receipt in the Federal Register under paragraph (a) of this section. Each such bid must:
(1) Provide FRA with sufficient information to evaluate the level of service described in the proposal, and to evaluate the proposal's compliance with the requirements in § 269.13(b);
(2) Describe how the bidder would operate the route;
(i) This description must include, but is not limited to, an operating plan, a financial plan and, if applicable, any executed agreement(s) necessary for the operation of passenger service over right-of-way on the route that is not owned by the bidder.
(ii) In addition, if the bidder intends to generate any revenues from ancillary activities (i.e., activities other than passenger transportation, accommodations, and food service) as part of its proposed operation of the route, then the bidder must fully describe such ancillary activities and identify their incremental impact in all relevant sections of the operating plan and the financial plan, and on the route's performance, together with the assumptions underlying the estimates of such incremental impacts.
(3) Describe what passenger equipment the bidder would need, including how it would be procured;
(4) Describe in detail, including amounts, timing, and intended purpose, what sources of Federal and non-Federal funding the bidder would use, including but not limited to any Federal or State operating subsidy and any other Federal or State payments;
(5) Contain a staffing plan describing the number of employees the bidder needs to operate the service, the job assignments and requirements, and the terms of work for prospective and current employees of the bidder for the service outlined in the bid;
(6) Describe the capital needs for the passenger rail service including in detail any costs associated with compliance with Federal law and regulations;
(7) Describe in detail the bidder's plans for meeting all FRA safety requirements, including equipment, employee, and passenger parameters;
(8) Describe, for each Federal fiscal year fully or partially covered by the bid, a projection of the passenger rail service route's total revenue, total costs, total contribution/loss, and net cash used in operating activities per passenger-mile attributable to the route;
(9) Describe how the passenger rail service would meet or exceed the performance required of or achieved by Amtrak on the applicable route during the last fiscal year, and how the bidder would report on the performance standards. At a minimum, this description must include, for each Federal fiscal year fully or partially covered by the bid a projection of the route's expected Passenger Miles per Train Mile, End-Point and All Stations On-Time Performance, Host Railroad and Operator Responsible Delays per 10,000 Train Miles, Percentage of Passenger Trips to/from Underserved Communities, Service Interruptions per 10,000 Train Miles due to Equipment-Related Problems, and customer service quality;
(10) Analyze the reasonably foreseeable effects, both positive and negative, of the passenger rail service on other intercity passenger rail services;
(11) Describe the bidder's compliance with all applicable Federal, state, and local laws; and
(12) Provide State or States written concurrence of the bid for a route that receives funding from a State or States.
(c) Supplemental information. (1) FRA may request supplemental information from a bidder and/or Amtrak if FRA determines it needs such information to evaluate a bid.
(2) FRA's request may seek information about the costs related to the service that Amtrak would still incur following the cessation of service, including the increased costs for other services.
(3) FRA will establish a deadline by which the bidder and/or Amtrak must file the supplemental information with FRA.