The department and the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency, to the extent the agency assumes administrative responsibility for intercity passenger rail services on the LOSSAN Corridor through an interagency transfer agreement, may, through a competitive solicitation process, contract with Amtrak or with organizations authorized by state or federal law to provide intercity passenger rail services, and may contract with rail corporations and other rail operators for the use of the tracks and other facilities and for the provision of intercity passenger rail services on terms and conditions as the parties may agree. The department is deemed to be a third-party beneficiary of the contract, and the contract shall not contain any provision or condition that would negatively impact on or conflict with any other contracts the department has regarding intercity passenger rail services. The LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency, if it succeeds the department as sponsor of state-supported intercity passenger rail services on the LOSSAN Corridor through an interagency transfer agreement, is deemed to be an agency of the state for all purposes related to intercity passenger rail services, including Section 5311 of Title 49 of the United States Code. If the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency or the entity providing administrative services enters into a contract for the operation of those services, the contractor shall, as a condition of entering into an operating agreement with the entity providing administrative services or the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency, agree that its labor relations shall be governed by the federal Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. § 151 and following).

Section 14070.6 shall not apply to the LOSSAN Corridor.

(Added by Stats. 2012, Ch. 802, Sec. 7. (SB 1225) Effective January 1, 2013.)