The Federal Railroad Administration has implemented a new rule that requires major freight railroads to maintain two-person crews on most routes. This rule comes after intense focus on railroad safety following a fiery derailment in eastern Ohio in February 2023. Rail unions have long opposed one-person crews due to safety and job concerns. The unions emphasize the importance of conductors in helping operate trains, keeping engineers alert, and responding to problems or crashes. Labor agreements requiring two-person crews have been in place for around 30 years at major railroads.
The president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union, Eddie Hall, commended the FRA for enforcing the two-person crew requirement, stating that as trains have grown longer, crews should not be getting smaller. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also supported the regulation, highlighting the need for at least two crew members on large freight trains, some of which can be over three miles long. The railroads had previously sought the option to operate trains with only one person and move conductors to ground-based roles where automatic braking systems are installed.
Railroads argue that the size of train crews should be determined through contract negotiations rather than by regulators or lawmakers. They claim that there isn’t enough data to prove that two-person crews are safer and that current safety statistics reflect the industry norm of two-person crews. The railroads emphasize the importance of the collective bargaining process in determining crew sizes. The industry pointed out that the FRA abandoned a similar rule during the Trump administration due to a lack of evidence supporting its necessity.
The implementation of the two-person crew requirement follows incidents such as the East Palestine, Ohio derailment and the Lac Megantic disaster in Canada in 2013. These incidents underscore the importance of having multiple crew members on trains for safety and response to emergencies. Several states have already approved rules mandating two-person crews, with concerns that reducing crew sizes could make railroads riskier and hinder response to disasters. The industry often challenges state rules in court, but it is unclear if they will challenge the federal rule. Ultimately, the new regulation aims to ensure that trains are safely staffed and operated to prevent and respond to potential disasters.
