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12/14/2021
A bill that would require two-person train crews has been introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives and Senate.
House Bill 5596 and Senate Bill 767 would require that railroads "not operate a train or locomotive engine engaged in transporting freight unless the train or locomotive engine is operated by a crew of not fewer than two individuals," according to a press release issued by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET).
BLET and SMART-Transportation Division representatives have been lobbying in favor of the legislation.
"This legislation will make our state safer for train crews and the general public," said BLET Michigan State Legislative Board Chairman B.J. Trumble.
H.B. 5596 and S.B. 767 were introduced earlier this month.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) opposes legislation that would mandate two-person train crews. Two-person crew bills "would upend decades of meaningful collective bargaining and undermine the industry’s ability to compete in a rapidly changing transportation space," AAR states on its website.