12 2 STA T .49 2 8PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 4 3 2 —O CT. 1 6, 2008 ‘ ‘ (6)requi re stha tea c h b i d c on tain a sta f fin gpl an describing the nu m ber of emplo y ees needed to operate the ser v ice , the j ob assignments and requirements, and the terms of w or k for prospective and current employees of the bidder for the service outlined in the bid, and such staffing plan be made available by the winning bidder to the public after the bid award . ‘‘(b) ROUTELIM IT A TIO NS . —T he A dministration may not make the program available with respect to more than 2 Amtrak intercity passenger rail routes. ‘‘(c) P E RF ORMAN C E S TAN D ARDS
ACCESS TO F ACI L ITIES; E M P LO Y EES.— I f the Administration awards the right and obligation to provide passenger rail service over a route under the program to a rail carrier or rail carriers— ‘‘( 1 )itshalle x ecute a contract with the rail carrier or rail carriers for rail passenger operations on that route that conditions the operating and subsidy rights upon— ‘‘(A) the service provider continuing to provide pas - senger rail service on the route that is no less frequent, nor over a shorter distance, than Amtrak provided on that route before the award; and ‘‘( B ) the service provider ’ s compliance with the min- imum standards established under section 2 07 of the Pas- senger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 200 8 and such additional performance standards as the Administra- tion may establish; ‘‘(2) it shall, if the award is made to a rail carrier other than Amtrak, require Amtrak to provide access to its reserva- tion system, stations, and facilities directly related to operations to any rail carrier or rail carriers awarded a contract under this section, in accordance with section 217 of that Act, nec- essary to carry out the purposes of this section; ‘‘( 3 ) the employees of any person used by a rail carrier or rail carriers (as defined in section 10102( 5 ) of this title) in the operation of a route under this section shall be considered an employee of that carrier or carriers and subject to the applicable Federal laws and regulations governing similar crafts or classes of employees of Amtrak, including provisions under section 121 of the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act of 1 9 97 relating to employees that provide food and beverage service; and ‘‘( 4 ) the winning bidder shall provide hiring preference to qualified Amtrak employees displaced by the award of the bid, consistent with the staffing plan submitted by the bidder and shall be subject to the grant conditions under section 24405 of this title. ‘‘(d) C ESSATION OF SER V ICE.—If a rail carrier or rail carriers awarded a route under this section cease to operate the service or fail to fulfill their obligations under the contract required under subsection (c), the Administrator, in collaboration with the Surface Transportation Board, shall take any necessary action consistent with this title to enforce the contract and ensure the continued provision of service, including the installment of an interim service provider and re-bidding the contract to operate the service. The entity providing service shall either be Amtrak or a rail carrier defined in subsection (a)(1). ‘‘(e) ADE Q UATE RESOURCES.—Before taking any action allowed under this section, the Secretary shall certify that the Administrator Certif i ca ti on.
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