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6/27/2025
U.S. Reps. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) have reintroduced a bill that would strengthen workplace protections for railroad yardmasters by giving them the same protections as other rail yard workers.
The bipartisan "Railroad Yardmaster Protection Act" would include railroad yardmasters under federal hours-of-service requirements, which currently cover safety-sensitive rail workers such as locomotive engineers, conductors, switchmen, dispatchers and signal employees, the lawmakers said in a press release.
The bill would ensure that a yardmaster isn't required or allowed to remain on duty for more than a total of 12 hours. After serving 12 hours, the yardmaster must receive a minimum of 10 hours off duty, they added.
“Yardmasters are the traffic controllers of our country’s railroad network. Like their counterparts in aviation, they play a vital role in ensuring the safety of everyone traveling by train,” said Carbajal, a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
First introduced in 2019, the Railroad Yardmaster Protection Act passed the House in 2020. The bill has been endorsed by SMART, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers.