Legislator wants to limit train length/crew size

[atrainguy60]

Dunno if this is old news for anybody, but I don't see a thread for it so here ya go. Senator Erika Geiss introduced a couple bills that would limit train size in Michigan to 7500 feet and maintain require at least two man crews for freight trains. Obviously there's some opposition to this.

https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2 ... s-say.html

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews ... son-crews/

[chapmaja]

The biggest opposition should be coming from anyone with knowledge of the Constitution. Railroad freight is interstate commerce. As such, under the Commerce clause, only the Federal Government can regulate interstate commerce. This means any law passsed by the government within the state should be invalidated by a federal court when the lawsuit is filed.

Now that we have gotten the legal issues out of the way, I personally am in favor of requiring the 2 person crews in the locomotive for road freight trains and 2 person crews with 1 in the locomotive for yard / local crews. I personally am in not favor of RC operations for railroads, but would have less of a problem with this than 1 person operating a road freight.

I feel there is too much risk if only 1 person operates a road freight, even with so called "deadman" swtiches. There are several reasons 2 person crews, should, in my opinion, be required. First is the "if something happens to the engineer issue". Even with a deadman switch, something happening to an engineer leaves a lag time between when the issue happens and before it would be noticed. An issue is more likely to be noticed by a second crew member. Second, and thankfully this hasn't happened yet in railroad operations, but single person crews leave the door open for issues like GermanWings 9525 or the similar crash in Africa where the pilot intentinally crashed an aircraft, killing all on board. What is to stop an unstable engineer from intentionally running red signals or operating at an unsafe speed to intentionally crash a train. If the train were to carry cargo such as East Palestine it could injury or kill numerous people and affect many more for an extended period.

I do think at the Federal Level there should be a regulation that would require 2 person crews for road trains and only allow single person crews inside the locomotive during active switching operations of local trains / yard jobs.

[Mark F]

Are there very many trains running over 7500 feet in Michigan?

[atrainguy60]

Are there very many trains running over 7500 feet in Michigan?

CN runs some pretty big trains. I don't always count the cars, but I'd say ones over 7500 feet are at least fairly common around Durand. Can't speak for CSX/NS/CP and the shortlines though.

[Man o' War]

Are there very many trains running over 7500 feet in Michigan?

CN regularly runs multiple manifests daily on the Mount Clemens sub that run between 8 and 10,000'. It's the Southern Pacific of the 21st century around here, and for a subdivision that has 73 grade crossings in the 50 or so miles between Milwaukee Jct. and Tappan, I can see where limiting train lengths would be of interest to the bureaucrats with regard to plugging up arteries. It would only be helpful to railfans if such a mandate were passed, as it would mean more trains - and of course more chances for accidents - vehicular and derailments. Bet that never crossed the minds of the politicos...

Man o' War

[Chip]

CSX runs some fairly lengthy intermodal trains north from Toledo. Not entirely sure how long but a lot of them long enough to warrant a DPU

[justalurker66]

What is to stop an unstable engineer from intentionally running red signals or operating at an unsafe speed to intentionally crash a train.

PTC. Your electronic conductor is at your service. He will monitor your speed and compliance with signals and track restrictions. Make operable PTC a requirement for "single man operation" and the train doesn't run without either a second man or PTC preventing the train from being operated in an unsafe manner.

That being said (to answer the question) - I do not support single person crews on road trains. The "roving conductor" could work for a local job where a dedicated utility/conductor in a truck could move separate from the train to throw switches and spot cars (two man crew just not both on the train) but a road train needs that conductor on the train for any typical emergency. (Not just to monitor the mental state of the engineer.)

As for the train length proposal - it will not have any immediate effect due to the Federal regulation of railroads but it is a good way of getting the state on the record as to the government's opinion on safe train operation. Perhaps if enough states write such laws Congress will take notice and get some national legislation in place. Or the FRA could be influenced by several states having such laws.