Early last month, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) released its final rulemaking on minimum train crew size. The new rules require all trains to have at least two crew members, with limited exceptions for smaller railroads.
Not surprisingly, crew size has been the subject of controversy. The Association of American Railroads claims that one-person crews have been operating trains safely for years, while rail unions, fearing job losses, have long opposed one-crew trains.
Before the 1960s, train crews often consisted of six members—an engineer, a conductor, a fireman, a flagman, and two brakemen. Over time, technology eliminated the need for some of those workers, particularly those whose jobs were to signal or manually apply brakes.
Supporters of one-person crews argue that new technologies, such as Positive Train Control (PTC), make trains safer. PTC helps maintain optimal distances between trains to avoid collisions and limits speeds to reduce derailments.
While trains can move safely with one operator, having an extra person onboard is essential when something goes wrong. U.S. railroads now experience an average of three derailments per day. That’s about 1,000 annually. Thankfully, most don’t result in loss of life or significant damage. Last year’s derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, when 38 railcars went off the tracks and caught fire, was the exception.
Newer technology has reduced the number of overall accidents (in 1978 alone, there were 8,763 derailments). However, even with the technology, humans still operate the trains. In its rule mandating two-person crews, the FRA noted that the rate for all “human factor”-caused accidents increased 41.1% between 2013 and 2022.
Trains today are much longer than they used to be. The average Class I train is 5,300 feet long, or just over a mile. Some reach three miles in length. Having a single person oversee a three-mile-long train seems inadequate, especially when it’s hauling toxic chemicals as in the East Palestine incident. A second person could apply brakes manually when needed, something a solo engineer cannot do.
The new ruling supersedes the patchwork of state regulations that, in some cases, required an extra crew member to hop aboard when a train crossed into one of the 11 states that already required two crew members.
I support the move to two-person crews. And in cases where operators are seeking exemptions, I think it’s reasonable to require the railroads to prove the train is safe to operate. This new rule makes sense and brings clarity.
Oh, and by the way—the train in the East Palestine accident had three crew members on board—enough to allow them to report the accident immediately and swiftly uncouple the locomotives and move them to safety. Try doing that alone.
