By Railfan & Railroad Staff

The Association of American Railroads is suing the state of Ohio after it passed a new rail safety law earlier this year that required, among other things, at least two people in the cab of all freight trains. AAR filed the lawsuit on June 29, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. 

Following the explosive Norfolk Southern derailment at East Palestine, Ohio, the state passed a new rail safety law that included provisions about the number of defect detectors a railroad needs to maintain and the number of people in the locomotive cab of a freight train. But railroads say the crew size provision is illegal. In the lobbying group’s opening argument, AAR states that such state law is unconstitutional because it tries to trump federal regulations. It notes that in the past both the Federal Railroad Administration and the U.S. Surface Transportation Board have said crew sizes should be determined by collective bargaining with unions. 

The lawsuit goes on to argue that railroads have for years used single-person crews safely across the country. It also states that the FRA has considered minimum crew size regulations in the past but ultimately decided they were not needed.