Congress Should Reject the So-Called “Railway Safety Act”

Congress should reject any “Railway Safety Act”-style provisions in the upcoming surface transportation reauthorization bill. These provisions serve as little more than union handouts while failing to improve safety outcomes.

In February 2023, a freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, resulting in the release of hazardous materials. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) eventually determined that a faulty wheel bearing was the cause of the derailment.

Union bosses quickly seized on the derailment in Ohio, using it as the basis for proposing strict new labor regulations as part of the so-called “Railway Safety Act.” These new rules would not have prevented the mechanical failure that caused the East Palestine derailment––but they do promise to add new workforce requirements and regulatory burdens that would increase downstream costs for consumers.

Among other provisions, the Railway Safety Act would add a new two-person crew size mandate, whereby freight trains operated by Class I railroads must be staffed with at least two crew members even when one crew member suffices. The Biden-Harris administration previously imposed a version of this two-person crew mandate as a rulemaking from the Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). For the many freight operations where a second crew member is unnecessary, this policy represents a doubling of labor costs, which are ultimately passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices.

While costs would increase under this policy, safety outcomes would not improve. The FRA has repeatedly concluded that there is not “reliable or conclusive statistical data” showing that “multiple-person crew operations” are any safer than one-person crew operations.

Similarly, the Railway Safety Act mandates new inspection requirements that increase the frequency and duration of manual inspections, even though automated track inspection technologies have been proven to make rail transportation safer. These technologies, which can help inspect hundreds of thousands of miles of track per year, can improve the efficiency of rail transportation by reducing how often trains need to slow down or stop traffic to perform mandatory inspections. FRA assessments have found that automated track inspections improve safety outcomes as compared to manual inspections that are subject to human error.

The union bosses’ motivation for supporting these new regulatory burdens is simple: As businesses are forced to add more employees to their highly unionized workforces, union leadership receives more money in the form of dues payments. For everyday Americans, however, the result is higher costs on the goods they purchase without any meaningful increase in safety.

As Congress prepares to pass a new surface transportation reauthorization bill, union bosses are doubling down on their push for the Railway Safety Act, seeking its inclusion in the broader legislative package. Members of Congress should reject costly Railway Safety Act-style provisions and instead focus on strengthening the nation’s railroads while maintaining affordability for Americans.