Maryland Releases Freight Rail RFQ

The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) has released an RFQ for a novel contract to transition the operations of a small freight rail network on the state’s east coast into a public-private partnership concession. The 92-mile network is currently overseen by the state directly via an operating contract, which is set to expire this year.

The concession will have a 40-year term. MDOT’s objective is to structure that concession without any availability payment or other operating subsidy from the state, which is a departure from the state’s current operating model for the system. The P3 operator would be remunerated from and responsible for the shipping and ancillary revenues of operating the system. The RFQ even notes that MDOT may expect the P3 operator to provide payments back to MDOT for excess revenues during operations.

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