I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 18, 2024 

Mrs. SYKES (for herself and Mr. RULLI) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Freight Act of 

5 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FREIGHT TRAIN CREW SIZE SAFETY STANDARDS. 

7 (a) FREIGHT TRAIN CREW SIZE.—Subchapter II of 

8 chapter 201 of title 49, United States Code, is amended 

9 by inserting after section 20153 the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 20154. Freight train crew size safety standards 

2 ‘‘(a) MINIMUM CREW SIZE.—Except as provided in 

3 subsection (b), no Class I railroad carrier may operate a 

4 freight train without a 2-person crew consisting of at least 

5 1 appropriately qualified and certified conductor and 1 ap6 propriately qualified and certified locomotive engineer. 

7 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para9 graph (2), the requirement under subsection (a) 

10 shall not apply with respect to— 

11 ‘‘(A) train operations on track that is not 

12 main line track; 

13 ‘‘(B) locomotives performing assistance to 

14 a train that has incurred mechanical failure or 

15 lacks the power to traverse difficult terrain, in16 cluding traveling to or from the location where 

17 assistance is provided; 

18 ‘‘(C) locomotives that— 

19 ‘‘(i) are not attached to any equip20 ment or are attached only to a caboose; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(ii) travel not farther than 50 miles 

23 from the point of origin of such locomotive; 

24 and 

25 ‘‘(D) train operations staffed with fewer 

26 than a 2-person crew at least 1 year before the 


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1 date of the enactment of the Safe Freight Act 

2 of 2024, except if the Secretary determines that 

3 such operations do not achieve an equivalent 

4 level of safety as would result from compliance 

5 with the requirement under subsection (a). 

6 ‘‘(2) TRAINS INELIGIBLE FOR EXCEPTION.— 

7 The exceptions under paragraph (2) shall not apply 

8 with respect to— 

9 ‘‘(A) a high-hazard train; or 

10 ‘‘(B) a train with a total length of at least 

11 7,500 feet. 

12 ‘‘(c) WAIVER.—A railroad carrier may seek a waiver 

13 of the requirements under subsection (a) in accordance 

14 with section 20103(d). 

15 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 ‘‘(1) HIGH-HAZARD TRAIN.—The term ‘high17 hazard train’ means a single train transporting, 

18 throughout the train consist— 

19 ‘‘(A) not fewer than 20 tank cars loaded 

20 with a flammable liquid (Class 3) (as such term 

21 is defined in section 173.120 of title 49, Code 

22 of Federal Regulations, or successor regula23 tions); 

24 ‘‘(B) not fewer than 1 tank car or inter25 modal portable tank load with a material poiVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:02 Aug 17, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9074.IH H9074

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1 sonous by inhalation or a material toxic by in2 halation (as such term is defined in section 

3 171.8 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, 

4 or successor regulations); 

5 ‘‘(C) not fewer than 1 car loaded with a 

6 type B package or a fissile material package (as 

7 such terms are defined in section 173.403 of 

8 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, or suc9 cessor regulations); 

10 ‘‘(D) not fewer than 10 cars loaded with 

11 Class 1 explosives categorized under section 

12 173.50 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations 

13 (or successor regulations) as being in division 

14 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3; 

15 ‘‘(E) not fewer than 5 tank cars loaded 

16 with a flammable gas (as such term is defined 

17 in section 173.115(a) of title 49, Code of Fed18 eral Regulations, or successor regulations); or 

19 ‘‘(F) not fewer than 20 cars loaded with 

20 any combination of flammable liquids, flam21 mable gases, or explosives. 

22 ‘‘(2) MAIN LINE TRACK.—The term ‘main line 

23 track’ means— 

24 ‘‘(A) a segment or route of railroad 

25 tracks— 


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1 ‘‘(i) over which 5,000,000 or more 

2 gross tons of railroad traffic is transported 

3 annually; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) that has a maximum authorized 

5 speed for freight trains in excess of 25 

6 miles per hours; and 

7 ‘‘(B) intercity rail passenger transportation 

8 or commuter rail passenger transportation 

9 routes or segments over which high-hazard 

10 trains operate.’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for sub12 chapter II of chapter 201 of title 49, United States Code, 

13 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

14 20153 the following: 

‘‘20154. Freight train crew size safety standards.’’. 

15 (c) PRESERVATION OF AUTHORITY OF SEC16 RETARY.—Nothing in section 20154 of title 49, United 

17 States Code, as added by this section, shall be construed 

18 to limit the authority of the Secretary of Transportation 

19 under any other provision of law. 

Æ 


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