FRA Issues Final Rule on Train Crew Size Safety

Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued a final rule establishing minimum safety requirements for the size of train crews.

The new rule enhances safety in the rail industry by generally requiring and emphasizing the importance and necessity of a second crewmember on all trains.

“Common sense tells us that large freight trains, some of which can be over three miles long, should have at least two crew members on board — and now there’s a federal regulation in place to ensure trains are safely staffed,” said Buttigieg. “This rule requiring safe train crew sizes is long overdue, and we are proud to deliver this change that will make workers, passengers, and communities safer.”

Second Crewmember Ruling

A second crewmember performs important safety functions that could be lost when reducing crew size to a single person. Without the final rule, railroads could initiate single-crew operations without performing a rigorous risk assessment, mitigating known risks, or even notifying FRA.

The final rule closes the loophole by establishing minimum standards and a federal oversight process to empower communities and railroad workers to make their voices heard by allowing for public input during FRA’s decision-making process on whether to grant special approval for one-person train crew operations.

In finalizing the rule, FRA reviewed and considered over 13,500 written comments received during the 146-day comment period — in addition to the testimony from a one-day public hearing.

FRA’s Final Rule

The final rule codifies train crew staffing rules at a federal level, ensuring that freight and passenger rail operations are governed by consistent safety rules in all states. This is an on-going issue as Ohio, Virginia, and Colorado, among others, have recently considered legislation to require two-person rail crews.

In addition, the final rule contains some differences from the initial notice of proposed rulemaking in how it treats freight railroads, especially Class II and III freight railroads. In limited cases, the rule permits exceptions for smaller railroads to continue or initiate certain one-person train crew operations by notifying FRA and complying with new federal safety standards.

The final rule builds on the Administration’s actions to improve the safety of the country’s railways by deploying funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, holding railroads accountable, raising rail safety standards, and supporting first responders and rail workers.