H. R. 2095—49 
representative of an attorney) or any potential party to the 
litigation, including the railroad carrier or rail passenger car-
rier, to an individual (other than an employee of the rail pas-
senger carrier) injured in the accident, or to a relative of an 
individual involved in the accident, before the 45th day fol-
lowing the date of the accident. 
‘‘(3) PROHIBITION ON ACTIONS TO PREVENT MENTAL HEALTH 
AND COUNSELING SERVICES.—No State or political subdivision 
thereof may prevent the employees, agents, or volunteers of 
an organization designated for an accident under subsection 
(a)(2) from providing mental health and counseling services 
under subsection (c)(1) in the 30-day period beginning on the 
date of the accident. The director of family support services 
designated for the accident under subsection (a)(1) may extend 
such period for not to exceed an additional 30 days if the 
director determines that the extension is necessary to meet 
the needs of the families and if State and local authorities 
are notified of the determination. 
‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) RAIL PASSENGER ACCIDENT.—The term ‘rail passenger 
accident’ means any rail passenger disaster resulting in a major 
loss of life occurring in the provision of— 
‘‘(A) interstate intercity rail passenger transportation 
(as such term is defined in section 24102); or 
‘‘(B) interstate or intrastate high-speed rail (as such 
term is defined in section 26105) transportation, 
regardless of its cause or suspected cause. 
‘‘(2) RAIL PASSENGER CARRIER.—The term ‘rail passenger 
carrier’ means a rail carrier providing— 
‘‘(A) interstate intercity rail passenger transportation 
(as such term is defined in section 24102); or 
‘‘(B) interstate or intrastate high-speed rail (as such 
term is defined in section 26105) transportation, 
except that such term does not include a tourist, historic, scenic, 
or excursion rail carrier. 
‘‘(3) PASSENGER.—The term ‘passenger’ includes— 
‘‘(A) an employee of a rail passenger carrier aboard 
a train; 
‘‘(B) any other person aboard the train without regard 
to whether the person paid for the transportation, occupied 
a seat, or held a reservation for the rail transportation; 
and 
‘‘(C) any other person injured or killed in a rail pas-
senger accident, as determined appropriate by the Board. 
‘‘(i) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 
section may be construed as limiting the actions that a rail pas-
senger carrier may take, or the obligations that a rail passenger 
carrier may have, in providing assistance to the families of pas-
sengers involved in a rail passenger accident. 
‘‘(j) RELINQUISHMENT OF INVESTIGATIVE PRIORITY.— 
‘‘(1) GENERAL RULE.—This section (other than subsection 
(g)) shall not apply to a railroad passenger accident if the 
Board has relinquished investigative priority under section 
1131(a)(2)(B) and the Federal agency to which the Board relin-
quished investigative priority is willing and able to provide 
assistance to the victims and families of the passengers involved 
in the accident.
H. R. 2095—50 
‘‘(2) BOARD
ASSISTANCE.—If this section does not apply 
to a railroad passenger accident because the Board has relin-
quished investigative priority with respect to the accident, the 
Board shall assist, to the maximum extent possible, the agency 
to which the Board has relinquished investigative priority in 
assisting families with respect to the accident. 
‘‘(k) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall be con-
strued to abridge the authority of the Board or the Secretary 
of Transportation to investigate the causes or circumstances of 
any rail accident, including development of information regarding 
the nature of injuries sustained and the manner in which they 
were sustained for the purposes of determining compliance with 
existing laws and regulations or for identifying means of preventing 
similar injuries in the future, or both.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis for 
chapter 11 is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
section 1138 the following: 
‘‘1139. Assistance to families of passengers involved in rail passenger accidents.’’. 
SEC. 502. RAIL PASSENGER CARRIER PLAN TO ASSIST FAMILIES OF 
PASSENGERS INVOLVED IN RAIL PASSENGER ACCIDENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 243 is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘§ 24316. Plans to address needs of families of passengers 
involved in rail passenger accidents 
‘‘(a) SUBMISSION OF PLAN.—Not later than 6 months after the 
date of the enactment of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, 
a rail passenger carrier shall submit to the Chairman of the 
National Transportation Safety Board, the Secretary of Transpor-
tation, and the Secretary of Homeland Security a plan for 
addressing the needs of the families of passengers involved in 
any rail passenger accident involving a rail passenger carrier inter-
city train and resulting in a major loss of life. 
‘‘(b) CONTENTS OF PLANS.—A plan to be submitted by a rail 
passenger carrier under subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, 
the following: 
‘‘(1) A process by which a rail passenger carrier will main-
tain and provide to the National Transportation Safety Board, 
the Secretary of Transportation, and the Secretary of Homeland 
Security immediately upon request, a list (which is based on 
the best available information at the time of the request) of 
the names of the passengers aboard the train (whether or 
not such names have been verified), and will periodically update 
the list. The plan shall include a procedure, with respect to 
unreserved trains and passengers not holding reservations on 
other trains, for the rail passenger carrier to use reasonable 
efforts to ascertain the names of passengers aboard a train 
involved in an accident. 
‘‘(2) A process for notifying the families of the passengers, 
before providing any public notice of the names of the pas-
sengers, either by utilizing the services of the organization 
designated for the accident under section 1139(a)(2) of this 
title or the services of other suitably trained individuals. 
‘‘(3) A plan for creating and publicizing a reliable, toll- 
free telephone number within 4 hours after such an accident
H. R. 2095—51 
occurs, and for providing staff, to handle calls from the families 
of the passengers. 
‘‘(4) A process for providing the notice described in para-
graph (2) to the family of a passenger as soon as the rail 
passenger carrier has verified that the passenger was aboard 
the train (whether or not the names of all of the passengers 
have been verified). 
‘‘(5) An assurance that, upon request of the family of a 
passenger, the rail passenger carrier will inform the family 
of whether the passenger’s name appeared on any preliminary 
passenger manifest for the train involved in the accident. 
‘‘(6) A process by which the family of each passenger will 
be consulted about the disposition of all remains and personal 
effects of the passenger within the control of the rail passenger 
carrier and by which any possession of the passenger within 
the control of the rail passenger carrier (regardless of its condi-
tion)— 
‘‘(A) will be retained by the rail passenger carrier for 
at least 18 months; and 
‘‘(B) will be returned to the family unless the possession 
is needed for the accident investigation or any criminal 
investigation. 
‘‘(7) A process by which the treatment of the families of 
nonrevenue passengers will be the same as the treatment of 
the families of revenue passengers. 
‘‘(8) An assurance that the rail passenger carrier will pro-
vide adequate training to the employees and agents of the 
carrier to meet the needs of survivors and family members 
following an accident. 
‘‘(9) An assurance that the family of each passenger or 
other person killed in the accident will be consulted about 
construction by the rail passenger carrier of any monument 
to the passengers, including any inscription on the monument. 
‘‘(10) An assurance that the rail passenger carrier will 
work with any organization designated under section 1139(a)(2) 
of this title on an ongoing basis to ensure that families of 
passengers receive an appropriate level of services and assist-
ance following each accident. 
‘‘(11) An assurance that the rail passenger carrier will 
provide reasonable compensation to any organization des-
ignated under section 1139(a)(2) of this title for services pro-
vided by the organization. 
‘‘(c) USE
OF INFORMATION.—Neither the National Transpor-
tation Safety Board, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary 
of Homeland Security, nor a rail passenger carrier may release 
to the public any personal information on a list obtained under 
subsection (b)(1), but may provide information on the list about 
a passenger to the passenger’s family members to the extent that 
the Board or a rail passenger carrier considers appropriate. 
‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.— 
‘‘(1) RAIL PASSENGER CARRIERS.—Nothing in this section 
may be construed as limiting the actions that a rail passenger 
carrier may take, or the obligations that a rail passenger carrier 
may have, in providing assistance to the families of passengers 
involved in a rail passenger accident. 
‘‘(2) INVESTIGATIONAL
AUTHORITY
OF
BOARD
AND
SEC-
RETARY.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to abridge
H. R. 2095—52 
the authority of the Board or the Secretary of Transportation 
to investigate the causes or circumstances of any rail accident, 
including the development of information regarding the nature 
of injuries sustained and the manner in which they were sus-
tained, for the purpose of determining compliance with existing 
laws and regulations or identifying means of preventing similar 
injuries in the future. 
‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—A rail passenger carrier shall 
not be liable for damages in any action brought in a Federal 
or State court arising out of the performance of the rail passenger 
carrier in preparing or providing a passenger list, or in providing 
information concerning a train reservation, pursuant to a plan 
submitted by the rail passenger carrier under subsection (b), unless 
such liability was caused by conduct of the rail passenger carrier 
which was grossly negligent or which constituted intentional mis-
conduct. 
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘passenger’ and 
‘rail passenger accident’ have the meaning given those terms by 
section 1139 of this title. 
‘‘(g) FUNDING.—Out of funds appropriated pursuant to section 
20117(a)(1)(A), there shall be made available to the Secretary of 
Transportation $500,000 for fiscal year 2010 to carry out this sec-
tion. Amounts made available pursuant to this subsection shall 
remain available until expended.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis for 
chapter 243 is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
section 24315 the following: 
‘‘24316.Plan to assist families of passengers involved in rail passenger accidents.’’. 
SEC. 503. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in cooperation with the 
National Transportation Safety Board, organizations potentially 
designated under section 1139(a)(2) of title 49, United States Code, 
rail passenger carriers (as defined in section 1139(h)(2) of title 
49, United States Code), and families which have been involved 
in rail accidents, shall establish a task force consisting of represent-
atives of such entities and families, representatives of rail passenger 
carrier employees, and representatives of such other entities as 
the Secretary considers appropriate. 
(b) MODEL PLAN
AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The task force 
established pursuant to subsection (a) shall develop— 
(1) a model plan to assist rail passenger carriers in 
responding to passenger rail accidents; 
(2) recommendations on methods to improve the timeliness 
of the notification provided by passenger rail carriers to the 
families of passengers involved in a passenger rail accident; 
(3) recommendations on methods to ensure that the families 
of passengers involved in a passenger rail accident who are 
not citizens of the United States receive appropriate assistance; 
and 
(4) recommendations on methods to ensure that emergency 
services personnel have as immediate and accurate a count 
of the number of passengers onboard the train as possible. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit a report to the 
House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infra-
structure and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and