White House wrong to push Railway Safety Act

By Sean Higgins & Steve Swedberg of CEI.

"The White House is reportedly urging lawmakers to include new restrictions on freight rail operations in upcoming infrastructure or transportation legislation. CEI policy experts Sean Higgins and Steve Swedberg explain how this plan would do more to impose red tape than improve safety.

CEI Research Fellow Sean Higgins:

“The legislation would mandate minimum two-member crews (one conductor, one engineer) on freight trains. There is no evidence that such a mandate would make trains any safer, but it would prohibit attempts to further automate them. Railroad companies have reduced crew sizes for decades while also reducing accident rates. The two-crew rule exists solely for the benefit of unions that represent railroad workers. If there is any form of transportation that should be on the leading edge of automation, it is trains, which have a natural safety edge because they don’t use public roads or the skies.”

CEI Finance and Monetary Policy Analyst Steve Swedberg:

“The White House’s push to include the Railway Safety Act in a broader infrastructure or transportation bill risks enshrining policies that do little-to-nothing to improve rail safety or address root causes of rail accidents.

Instead, the legislation includes prescriptive government mandates that needlessly increase costs, diminish innovation, and slow rail operations. Locking technologies and procedures into federal law would impede the rail industry from adopting new technologies that achieve safety gains. Congress should be wary of any plan that imposes rigid rules instead of actual safety standards.”

Related analysis: The Railway Safety Act would derail progress one provision at a time"