Freight train crew size bills introduced in New York legislature

Two bills in the New York State Legislature seek to require that Class I railroads and larger short line railroads operating in the state have a train crew of at least two members.

Senate bill 3953 and House bill 1287 call for Class I railroads and Class II railroads to have at least two people operating a freight train, except when a train is undergoing switching operations, such as changing the position of railcars to load or unload or assembling railcars to form a train.

According to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), those two crew members would be a certified locomotive engineer and a certified conductor. 

The bills come as other states, such as Michigan, have considered or have passed bills relating to train crew size in recent years. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a train crew size bill into law on March 27, 2020. Other states where similar legislation was signed into law in 2019 include Illinois, Nevada and Colorado, according to BLET.