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7/24/2024
The Teamsters yesterday endorsed the bipartisan Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2024 (H.R. 8996) introduced by U.S. Reps. Troy Nehls (R-Tex) and Seth Moulton (D-Mass).
The legislation includes several Teamsters priorities, such as requiring a qualified engineer and conductor on most freight trains and providing essential equipment to roadway workers to ensure protections from being struck by trains and other railroad vehicles while working on track, Teamsters officials said in a press release.
The Teamsters' affiliated railroad unions are the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWED).
H.R. 8996 was introduced in the wake of the February 2023 derailment of a Norfolk Southern Railway train in East Palestine, Ohio.
Yesterday, the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials held a hearing to discuss the legislation as well as rail safety in the aftermath of the accident in East Palestine. Nehls chairs the subcommittee.
The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Railroad Administration determined the NS train derailment occurred after a bearing on a hopper car overheated and caused an axle to separate. The derailed equipment included 11 tank cars carrying hazardous materials.