Rep. Sykes Introduces Amendment to Finally Implement Rail Safety Legislation
Amendment would codify the RAIL Act, Implementing Rail Safety Measure to Prevent Future Catastrophe like the Norfolk Southern Derailment
WATCH: Rep. Sykes Full Remarks from the Transportation and Infrastructure Reconciliation Mark Up.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Vice Ranking Member Emilia Sykes (OH-13) introduced an amendment to include her Reducing Accidents in Locomotives (RAIL) Act in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Reconciliation bill. Rep. Sykes first introduced the RAIL Act in 2023 following the tragic Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which sent toxic chemicals into the area's air, soil and creeks. The RAIL Act will implement effective measures to keep our communities safe, hold railroad corporations accountable, and ensure that no American living close to our nation’s 140,000 miles of railroad track has to worry about the threat of a toxic derailment in their backyard. While this amendment was ultimately not considered on the House Floor, Rep. Sykes will continue to work with anyone to pass legislation to improve rail safety.
“I have to admit to being a bit amazed that something as common sense as rail safety and something as non-partisan as public safety would have such a hard time moving through this body. For more than two years I have been speaking in front of this Committee and not once have we seen a rail safety bill brought to a vote, after repeated assurances from the Republican leadership there hasn’t been a single vote in the House on rail safety. This failure is loud and clear: the people of Northeast Ohio are not important enough for a vote and that the future victims of rail disasters are not worth a vote either.”
Earlier this year, Reps. Sykes introduced an improved version of the RAIL Act, which adds a provision to codify the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) final rule requiring a minimum of two-person crews for all Class I freight and passenger trains.
The RAIL Act has garnered support from the National League of Cities (NLC) and the Transportation Communications Union (TCU).
The passage of the RAIL Act would codify the FRA’s two-person crew rule into law. Requiring a minimum of two-person crews for all Class I freight and passenger trains enhances safety in the rail industry by generally requiring and emphasizing the importance and necessity of a second crewmember on all trains. A second crewmember performs important safety functions that could be lost when reducing crew size to a single person. Without the two-person crew rule, railroads could initiate single-crew operations without performing a rigorous risk assessment, mitigating known risks, or even notifying FRA. The provision closes this loophole by establishing minimum standards and a federal oversight process.
The RAIL Act would further improve railway safety and operations by:
- Directing the Secretary of Transportation to promulgate new rules to improve safety based off the findings of the NTSB investigation in conjunction with the Federal Railroad Administration
- Increasing inspections on all trains, including those carrying hazardous materials
- Requiring railroad corporations to provide notification in advance to pertinent to State emergency response commissioners, tribal emergency response commission, or any other State or tribal agency regarding the transportation of hazardous materials
- Strengthening requirements pertaining to safety placards that would have assisted emergency responders in identifying the hazardous materials in the rail cars on-site
- Strengthening regulations to prevent wheel bearing failures, which caused the East Palestine train derailment
- Increasing maximum penalties for violations of rail safety regulations
- Increasing funding for Hazardous Materials Training for First Responders
- Auditing federal rail inspection programs.
Ohio, which has one of the country’s largest railroad networks, ranks third worst in the nation for serious train accidents and hazardous materials spills. From 2019 through November 2022, 281 train accidents occurred in Ohio.