In the United States, an embargo is a halt to all traffic on a damaged section ("embargoed track") of a rail line not safely passable at any speed. Also, "to resist or prohibit the acceptance and handling of freight".
Cases
Federal Railroad Administration
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail saf ...
embargoed
Northwestern Pacific Railroad
The Northwestern Pacific Railroad is a regional shortline railroad utilizing a stretch of the 271 mile mainline between Schellville and Windsor with freight and Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) commuter trains. Formerly, it was a regi ...
tracks in November 1998 and prevented the
California Western Railroad
The California Western Railroad , AKA Mendocino Railway popularly called the Skunk Train, is a rail freight and heritage railroad transport railway in Mendocino County, California, United States, running from the railroad's headquarters in the ...
from operating their passenger trips to
Willits during the two weeks of
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
, because the California Western Railroad uses some of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad tracks coming in to Willits. Maintenance crews repaired the tracks, Federal Railroad Administration lifted the embargo in Willits and the summer schedule started as planned, with two daily trains from Fort Bragg and Willits to Northspur, the half-way point of the line.
Federal Railroad Administration closed a Northwestern Pacific Railroad route in 2001 after damage made it unsafe.
North Coast Railroad Authority
The Northwestern Pacific Railroad is a regional shortline railroad utilizing a stretch of the 271 mile mainline between Schellville and Windsor with freight and Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) commuter trains. Formerly, it was a regi ...
fixed the route, but tracks, bridges, signals and crossings must pass inspection before federal officials can lift their embargo.
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit planned to start running commuter trains over a portion of the railroad in 2014.
Uses
"An embargo or halt of traffic by any party, freight or passenger, would have a severe impact on our daily commuter service and potentially any freight service utilizing Metrolink host territories."
"Furthermore, RailAmerica had owned the line for ten years at the time of the embargo and had clearly not made the basic investments necessary to ensure the line was safe for operation."
"That complaint alleged that Carolina Southern Railroad
Carolina Southern Railroad was located off of Main Street in Conway, South Carolina, and was one of the few remaining train depots/lines in South Carolina. The railroad was originally erected in late 1886 and the first train steamed into the Con ...
violated its legal obligation by initiating an 'embargo' on the line on Aug. 26, 2011, ceasing rail operations, and failing to either legally abandon the line or repair bridges that failed Federal Railroad Administration inspections"
"With UP running short of train crews, the railroad has issued more than 1,000 embargoes so far this year 022in response to congestion, compared with just 27 in 2017 — the year before it adopted a lean Precision Scheduled Railroading
Precision railroading or precision scheduled railroading (PSR) is a concept in freight railroad operations pioneered by E. Hunter Harrison in 1993, and adopted by nearly every North American Class I railroad. It shifts the focus from older practi ...
operating model. UP asked some of its carload customers to reduce their inventory of private cars or face the prospect of an embargo that would limit the flow of inbound empties."
References
{{Rail-transport-stub
Rail transport