APPLICABILITY OF THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT AND OTHER LAWS.

SEC. 306. APPLICABILITY OF THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT AND OTHER LAWS. (a) The Corporation shall be deemed a common carrier by railroad within the meaning of section 1(3) of the Interstate Commerce Act and shall be subject to all provisions of the Interstate Commerce Act other than those pertaining to— (1) regulation of rates, fares, and charges; (2) abandonment or extension of lines of railroads utilized solely for passenger service, and the abandonment or extension of operations over such lines of railroads, whether by trackage rights or otherwise; (3) regulation of routes and service and, except as otherwise provided in this Act, the discontinuance or change of passenger train service operations. 84 Stat. 1333 (b) The Corporation shall be subject to the same laws and regulations with respect to safety and with respect to the representation of its employees for purposes of collective bargaining, the handling of disputes between carriers and their employees, employee retirement, annuity and unemployment systems, and other dealings with its employees as any other common carrier subject to part I of the Interstate Commerce Act. (c) The Corporation shall not be subject to any State or other law pertaining to the transportation of passengers by railroad as it relates to rates, routes, or service. (d) Leases and contracts entered into by the Corporation, regardless of the place where the same may be executed, shall be governed by the laws of the District of Columbia. (e) Persons contracting with the Corporation for the joint use or operation of such facilities and equipment as may be necessary for the provision of efficient and expeditious passenger service shall be and are hereby relieved from all prohibitions of existing law, including the antitrust laws of the United States, with respect to such contracts, agreements, or leases insofar as may be necessary to enable them to enter into such contracts and to perform their obligations thereunder.