Biden administration issues new rule requiring two-person crews on freight trains [Video]

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – The Biden administration announced a new freight train crew rule on Tuesday, that requires a second crew member on large freight trains.

“On behalf of the Biden administration, our department is proud to issue this final rule requiring safe crew sizes for every train across America,” said Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of Transportation.

The size of train crews has been a large part of the discussions on Capitol Hill about rail safety after the East Palestine train derailment last year. While that train had three people on board, the administration is instituting the rule to ensure that railroads do not further cut down staffing on large trains.

Rail union leaders like Jeremy Ferguson, president of the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD), applauded the change saying in part, “Today’s ruling codifying the two-person freight crew not only demonstrates …