HR5135-119

Introduced

To nullify a final rule on train crew size safety requirements published by the Federal Railroad Administration.

119th Congress Introduced Sep 4, 2025

Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.

Summary

This two-section bill nullifies a Federal Railroad Administration rule that required minimum crew sizes on freight trains. The FRA rule, published in April 2024, mandated that most freight trains have at least two crew members in the cab for safety reasons. This bill makes that rule have "no force or effect," effectively allowing railroad companies to decide for themselves how many workers to put on a train, including potentially running trains with just one person or even none (through automation). The bill contains no replacement safety requirements or phase-out period.

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

Nullifies the Federal Railroad Administration final rule on train crew size safety requirements (89 Fed. Reg. 25052, April 9, 2024), which mandated minimum crew sizes for freight trains, effectively eliminating the federal minimum crew size mandate.

Key Policy Areas

Transportation, Labor, Regulatory Reform

Primary Purpose

Nullifies the Federal Railroad Administration final rule on train crew size safety requirements (89 Fed. Reg. 25052, April 9, 2024), which mandated minimum crew sizes for freight trains, effectively eliminating the federal minimum crew size mandate.

Policy Domains

Transportation Labor Regulatory Reform

Whole Bill — Train Crew Size Rule Nullification

Identified Gains
  • Freight railroad companies
  • Class I railroads (BNSF, Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, CSX, etc.)
Model: claude-opus-4 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
Freight railroad companies:
Class I railroads (BNSF, Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, CSX, etc.):
Identified Costs
  • Railroad workers/train crews
  • Railroad labor unions (BLET, SMART-TD)
  • Federal Railroad Administration
Model: claude-opus-4 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
Railroad workers/train crews:
Federal Railroad Administration:
Railroad labor unions (BLET, SMART-TD):

Legislative Progress

Introduced
Introduced Committee Passed
Sep 4, 2025

Mr. Burlison introduced the following bill; which was referred to …

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Transportation
2 mentions across 1 clause
+1 positive -1 negative

Freight railroad companies, Railroad workers/train crews

Positive-direction: Freight railroad companies

Negative-direction: Railroad workers/train crews

Government
1 mention across 1 clause
-1 negative

Federal Railroad Administration

General Public
1 mention across 1 clause
-1 negative

Communities near rail lines

1/2
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Transportation Labor

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology