A controversial safety measure railroads and other businesses claim will cost them billions to implement and push up consumer prices in the process will be included in the wide-ranging surface transportation reauthorization legislation.
The Railway Safety Act rode an endorsement this week from President Donald Trump as part of the Build America 250 Act that cleared the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Thursday.
“Freight railroads have been clear from the beginning of the surface transportation reauthorization process: Rail policy provisions should be targeted, justified by data, and tied to clearly demonstrated operational or safety needs,” said Association of American Railroads President and Chief Officer Ian Jefferies, in a statement late Thursday. “Unfortunately, some provisions advanced today fail that test. Rather than focusing narrowly on evidence-based reforms connected to the actual causes of incidents like [the] East Palestine [hazmat derailment in 2023] , the package includes a wide range of extraneous mandates under the veil of safety that will only increase costs throughout the freight network and broader supply chain with no proven safety benefit – ultimately harming rail customers, manufacturers, energy producers, farmers and American consumers already facing significant affordability pressures.”
The RSA focuses on preventing derailments, especially those involving hazardous materials. It mandates two-person crews for freight trains, stronger inspections, better wayside defect detection, more protection for first responders, and tougher train operating standards.
Jeffries called the Act “particularly misguided” in that 2025 marked the safest year in freight rail industry history across several key safety measures, including historic lows in derailments, equipment-caused accidents, track-caused accidents, and employee injury rates.
“These gains were achieved through sustained private investment, technological innovation, and data-driven safety practices – not static federal mandates,” he said. “The Railway Safety Act, as written, violates the President’s pledge to lower costs, and is an unfortunate example that politics and special-interest pressure can sometimes usurp sound, data-driven policymaking during today’s proceedings.”
Jeffries pointed out that while the transportation bill for the first time creates a federal framework for autonomous trucks, “efforts to include rail policies that lock yesterday’s operating models into federal law are nothing more than hypocrisy.”
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