The following statement regarding important bipartisan rail safety legislation introduced today by Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX-22) and Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA-6), the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2024, HR8996, is from Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen National President Eddie Hall:
On behalf of the nation’s locomotive engineers and trainmen I would like to thank Representatives Nehls and Moulton for sponsoring the Railroad Safety Act of 2024. This legislation incorporates aspects of the bills sponsored last year by Ohio Senators Brown and Vance and companion bills in the U.S. House. However, this bill contains some very important differences.
This bill, like the one introduced in the Senate, would set federal limits on train length for the first time. Some freight trains, including ones that I operated in the Southwest before becoming BLET National President 18 months ago, routinely exceed three miles in length. The train that derailed last year in East Palestine, Ohio was nearly two miles long. Recent studies show that longer trains significantly increase the risk of derailment. *
The House bill, like the Senate’s, has language that mandates a two-person crew. The bill places restrictions on the weight of trains. It would set standards for railcar maintenance, track maintenance, wayside defect detectors and raises standards for tank cars carrying hazardous materials, among other changes.
Among the differences with the Senate, this House bill contains a provision for mandatory use of C3RS. This confidential reporting system is modeled after what’s been successfully used by the commercial airlines to identify problems and improve safety for decades. It’s shameful that in the 21 years of discussions with the railroads, Norfolk Southern is currently the only Class I railroad to adopt a C3RS pilot program. The time for foot-dragging and subject changing is over.
The slow adoption of C3RS along with dozens of safety lapses identified by the NTSB in its recent report on the East Palestine derailment demonstrate that the major railroads cannot be trusted to self-regulate. This is not inside baseball, it’s clear that there is a growing public awareness and anxiety caused by the misplaced priorities and irresponsible behavior by the railroads, much of it linked to the Precision Scheduled Railroading business model. PSR is stretching the limits of safe railroad operations.
Railroad workers, along with the public, understand that the railroads cannot be trusted to get this one right on their own. Congressional action is desperately needed to keep both railroaders and the communities our members operate through safe.
