State lawmakers will maintain onto a invoice mandating two-person crews on trains in Nebraska whereas federal regulators think about the problem.
State Sen. Suzanne Geist of Lincoln, who chairs the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee, mentioned Friday that she doesn’t plan to hunt motion on LB31 this yr.
However she promised to take it up promptly subsequent January if the Federal Railroad Administration doesn’t rule within the meantime. The federal company proposed a regulation final July that may require a minimum of two crew members on trains.
Extra lately, the proposed Railway Security Act of 2023 would come with a nationwide mandate for two-person crews.
Sen. Mike Jacobson of North Platte launched LB31, which was backed by quite a few railroad employees, native officers and supporters. They known as the proposal a public security and employee security subject.
Jacobson mentioned final month’s derailment of a Norfolk Southern prepare close to East Palestine, Ohio, underlined the explanations for the proposal. The derailment on Feb. 3 spewed vinyl chloride and different poisonous chemical compounds into the air, killing fish in close by streams and prompting an evacuation.
Preliminary reviews have alleged issues with railroad security know-how that was purported to alert the crew to the failure of a wheel bearing.
Representatives of Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the 2 main railroads in Nebraska, opposed LB31. Each mentioned the problem needs to be dealt with via collective bargaining between the businesses and worker unions and that railroads want the pliability to go together with one particular person on a prepare as know-how improves.