• When the Senate returns from its summer recess next month, committees will be turning their attention to reauthorization. In preparation, the Commerce Committee has announced it is collecting legislative proposals for committee consideration, with a deadline of September 19.

  Coalition members may recall that the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s reauthorization portal was open through late April. CRC submitted its legislative priorities as well as legislative language for committee consideration and participated in a Railroad Subcommittee listening session in the spring, with VRE’s Rich Dalton representing the Coalition’s priorities.

  CRC leaders will be meeting with Commerce Committee majority and minority staff in early September to amplify the Coalition’s priorities for reauthorization.

• US DOT has also called on stakeholders to submit reauthorization ideas, with the department recently extending its deadline to September 8. To participate, go HERE and search Docket No. DOT-OST-2025-0468

• The Surface Transportation Board has been holding stakeholder listening sessions on the topic of improving competition. This week CRC reiterated its position that commuter railroads are not operating on a level playing field with Amtrak and Class I hosts, and asked the Board to be mindful of the impacts of their decisions on commuter rail operations. CRC further reminded the STB it is seeking new authority for the Board to adjudicate disputes when commuter rail agencies and host railroads reach an impasse.

CRC is soliciting speakers for the 2025 Commuter Rail Summit. Individuals with expertise in any of the listed topics are invited to submit a one-page abstract for consideration. With only rare exceptions, Summit panelists must be CRC members.

• Best Practices in Managing Project Costs and Risks in the Face of Inflation and Tariffs

• Creative Resourcing: TOD and Beyond

• Telling the Commuter Rail Story Through Data

• Leading Through Disruption: Strikes, Major Weather Events, and Technology Failures

• Making Sense of AI

• Moving the Needle on Grade Crossing Incidents

Abstract submittals are due by COB September 5.

Kaplan Kirsch’s Charles Spitulnik has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® for 2026. The Best Lawyers in America is the oldest and most respected peer-review publication company in the legal profession. Recognition is widely regarded by both clients and legal professionals as a significant honor, conferred on a lawyer by their peers.

Spitulnik was selected for his work in Railroad Law and Transportation Law; he has been CRC’s outside counsel since inception. Read more about all the Kaplan Kirsch attorneys honored here.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Best Practices: Building a Resilient Transit Workforce - Strategies for Retention and Engagement (Mass Transit)

• Best Practices: Dallas Area Rapid Transit Reimagines Recruitment and Retention (Mass Transit)

• IL: RTA officials could transfer $74 million from Metra and Pace to CTA to delay city service cuts (Mass Transit)

• Why do US train stations look so depressing? (BBC)

• We Need a Reality Check on Crime, Safety and Transit (Bloomberg UK)

• Metra to expand weekend schedule (Evanston Now)