Review - HR 9074 Introduced – 2-Person Freight Crew

Last month, Rep Sykes (D,OH) introduced HR 9074, the Safe Freight Act of 2024. The bill would mandate the use of 2-person rail crews for most freight train operations and provides limited exceptions to the requirement. No new funding is authorized by the bill.

The bill would add a new §20154, Freight train crew size safety standards, to 49 USC,

Moving Forward

Sykes is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered by the Committee. Having said that, with the FRA recently completing a rule making on the subject, I would expect the Committee leadership to resist revisiting this subject until there has been a chance to see how the recent regulatory change works in practice.

 

For more information on the provisions of this bill, including a brief look at the recent regulatory change, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-9074-introduced - subscription required.

Bills Introduced – 7-18-24

Yesterday, with the House and Senate meeting in pro forma session, there were 32 bills introduced. Two of those bills will receive additional attention in this blog:

HR 9071 To require the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information relating to security threats posed by covered unmanned aircraft systems, and for other purposes. Nunn, Zachary [Rep.-R-IA-3]

HR 9074 To amend title 49, United States Code, to require Class I railroad carriers to operate certain freight trains with 2-person crews, and for other purposes. Sykes, Emilia Strong [Rep.-D-OH-13]