Surface Transportation Board (STB)

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) is the U.S. federal agency that regulates the economics of the freight railroad industry. It oversees matters such as the rates railroads charge, interchange and service between carriers, mergers and acquisitions of railroads, and the construction, acquisition, or abandonment of rail lines.

The STB was created in 1996 as the successor to the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), the long-standing body whose economic regulatory functions over railroads were largely transferred to the new Board when the ICC was abolished. The STB is an independent, bipartisan agency; it was administratively housed within the U.S. Department of Transportation for part of its history and later established as a fully independent agency.

The Board adjudicates disputes between railroads and their customers, including challenges to the reasonableness of rates, and reviews proposed railroad consolidations to determine whether they are in the public interest. It also handles applications by railroads to build new lines or to discontinue and abandon service over existing ones.

The STB's economic role is the counterpart to the safety role of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA): the STB regulates the commercial and structural side of the industry, while the FRA regulates operational safety.

Website: https://www.stb.gov/