Friends of the Rail Forum

The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill President Biden is slated to sign into law today (Monday, Nov. 15) contains funding for a study of Class I railroads’ use of ever-longer trains and their impact on safety, grade crossings, freight and passenger service, and the environment. The measure provides up to $2 million for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to evaluate the operation of trains longer than 7,500 feet.

The study will examine several operational aspects of long trains, including derailment risks; communication issues between the head end, distributed power units, and end-of-train devices; and train handling and braking. It also will look at whether engineers and conductors need additional training to safely operate long trains. Congress also asked that the study delve into long trains’ impact on both freight and passenger service, and how frequently and how long they tie up traffic at grade crossings compared to shorter trains...