Rail security group calls on feds to finalize SAFE TRAINS rule

The Rail Security Alliance (RSA) has joined U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) in urging the Biden administration to take immediate action to finalize the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review of a proposed rule that will ensure full implementation of the Stopping America's Foreign Enemies Through Rail And Infrastructure National Security Act (SAFE TRAINS).

In a letter to President Biden, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and OMB Director Shalanda Young, Baldwin noted that further delays “could leave our domestic industry vulnerable and undermine critical national security protections.”

The SAFE TRAINS Act was first introduced by U.S. Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Baldwin and Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), with Baldwin and Moran including the legislation as an amendment during the Senate Commerce Committee consideration of what became the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA).

The legislation aims to prevent freight cars and sensitive technologies on rail cars operating on the U.S. freight-rail network from being produced by countries on U.S. watchlists, most notably China, RSA officials noted in a press release.

The Federal Railroad Administration sought stakeholder feedback on the SAFE TRAINS rule to amend the Freight Car Safety Standards under the IIJA. Feedback received by FRA contained no opposition to the proposed rule, according to RSA.

"[T]he proposed rule establishes much needed safeguards against the risks posed by certain foreign-sourced rail-car components and technologies, which could compromise the integrity of our transportation networks," RSA officials wrote in their own letter to President Biden.