Earlier this week, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) filed comments addressing a final rule issued by the Biden administration, establishing minimum safety requirements for train crew sizes, with the rule requiring a second crew member on all trains.
AAR said that the comments were filed in regards to a United States Department of Transportation Request for Information, with a focus on DOT modernizing and streamlining rail regulations, “that stifle innovation and discourage investment without enhancing safety.” It also noted that the main issue in the Biden administration’s crew staffing rule, which mandates a minimum of two members per train is viewed as an unsubstantiated mandate.
“For too long, outdated, arbitrary regulations have stood in the way of implementing data-backed solutions that can further strengthen railroads’ already remarkable safety record,” said AAR President and CEO Ian Jefferies. “As technology advances, railroads must be empowered to innovate—not be hamstrung by prescriptive rules, including some written more than 50 years ago. As a critical economic enabler, domestic growth and prosperity are contingent upon maintaining freight railroads’ ability to safely, reliably and affordably deliver for American businesses and communities.”
To that end, in its filed comments, AAR said it wants to shift from what it called “rigid, obsolete regulations to performance-based standards that drive innovation and allow railroads to adopt modern technologies. And it also identified four actions for DOT to take, which it said would collectively reduce unnecessary regulatory burden while continuing to meet USDOT’s responsibility to ensure the safety of the nation’s transportation system:
- Repeal the Biden Administration’s 2024 crew staffing rule requiring each train be operated by a minimum of two crew members. The rule was a 2020 campaign promise that failed to quantify any safety benefit to justify its significant costs.
- Modernize track inspection regulations to facilitate the use of proven technology that offers enhanced safety benefits.
- Complete regulatory revisions initiated during the first Trump administration to reflect the ubiquitous use of modern, self-diagnostic signal equipment across the rail network.
- Finalize a previously proposed rule that would reflect advances in modern-day air brake technology by extending inspection intervals.
When this rule was passed in April 2024, the Associated Press reported that four U.S.-based railroads are calling on federal appeals courts to toss out the rule, calling it “arbitrary, capricious, and an illegal abuse of discretion,” according to an Associated Press report.
The report said the four railroads filing identical challenges—in different appellate courts—included Class I railroad carriers Union Pacific and BNSF and short-line carriers Indiana Railroad and Florida East Coast Railway.
And the report added that the freight railroad industry “has long opposed such a regulation,” noting that the Association of American Railroads (AAR) recently said that the rule was unfounded and not supported by safety data. It also cited a statement from Union Pacific, in which the carrier said the rule lacks data showing that two people in a cab are safer than one, with the rule hindering its ability to “compete in a world where technology is changing the transportation industry and prevents us from preparing our workforce for jobs of the future.
When it issued the final rule, FRA explained that explained having a second crewmember provides various safety functions that are not able to be realized on a single-person crew. As an example, without the final rule, it noted how on a train with one crewmember, railroads could initiate single-crew operations and not perform a rigorous risk assessment, mitigate known risks or notify the FRA.
“The final rule closes that loophole that 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,” said FRA.
And it added that FRA reviewed and considered more than 13,500 written comments received during the 146-day comment period—in addition to the testimony from a one-day public hearing—in finalizing the final rule.
From the perspective of the railroads, the AAR blasted the final rule, saying there is a lack of evidence connecting crew size to safety and adding that the FRA did not go forward with a similar rule in 2019 after failing to identify evidence to justify a safety need.
In making its case, AAR officials explained that rail carriers prioritize data-driven safety improvements through extensive employee training and private investments in technology and infrastructure. And they added that these actions have brought about tangible results, including: the casualty rate for Class I railroad employees down by 63% since 200—reaching an all-time low in 2023—and the overall train accident rate down 27% since 2000 and 6% since 2022.
What’s more, on a historical basis, AAR said that railroad staffing and crew size policies have been managed through the collective bargaining process, which provides for direct dialogue between rail carriers and the unions representing their employees. The FRA’s overreach into this area will diminish the importance of collective bargaining by inserting the regulator between parties, it said.
In a December 2023 interview with LM, Jefferies said that AAR had significant concerns about a permanent mandate to have two individuals located in the cab of a locomotive at all times.
“We currently have most passenger rail and several short-lines and most train operations around other parts of the world, including Europe, safely operate with one individual in the cab of a locomotive,” he said. “Train crew staffing has always been an issue of collective bargaining. That’s where it belongs. And we used to have five in the cab of the locomotive, and right now we have two. Over time during that, that evolution, the railroads have gotten significantly safer. And we believe that bargaining is the place to be there. Follow the data. We just think that data-driven safety improvements are the way to go.”
