Secure Tracks Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Secure Tracks Act adds federal statutory requirements for visual and automated railroad-track inspections. Main-line track designated for Class 3 speeds or higher must receive a qualified visual inspection at least twice each week, with at least one calendar day between inspections.
Any defect or unsafe condition found by any inspection, detection, or monitoring method must immediately be corrected, protected, or removed from service under the January 1, 2026 version of federal track-safety rules. A qualified inspector who finds a deviation must initiate remedial action and has sole authority to approve later movements needed to repair track that is out of service.
The Transportation Secretary may not grant a safety waiver, exemption, or modification when an alternative inspection method fails to identify every defect condition recognized as unsafe by applicable Federal Railroad Administration rules. Within one year, the Secretary must update track regulations with minimum Track Geometry Measurement System frequencies based on track class, annual gross tonnage, cant deficiency, and crossover speed.
The automated schedule ranges from annual inspection for specified lower-class track to twice in 30 days for Class 9 track. The Secretary must also require immediate remediation of deviations found by either a person or machine and apply updated requirements to each relevant track class. The bill fixes its definitions and incorporated safety standards to regulations in effect on January 1, 2026.
Who Benefits and How
Rail passengers, rail workers, freight customers, and communities along rail corridors receive more frequent inspection and faster defect response. Qualified inspectors gain authority and employment demand. Track-geometry equipment suppliers and maintenance contractors may gain business.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Freight and passenger railroads, track owners, and small operators must buy inspection services or systems, increase staffing, interrupt operations for defects, and follow rigid spacing rules. FRA must revise regulations within one year and loses flexibility to approve alternatives that do not detect every recognized condition. Shippers and passengers may experience repair-related delays even as safety risk falls.
Key Provisions
- Requires twice-weekly visual inspections on Class 3-or-higher main lines.
- Requires at least one day between visual inspections.
- Requires immediate correction, protection, or removal from service.
- Gives qualified inspectors control over repair movements.
- Bars waivers that miss recognized unsafe conditions.
- Requires updated automated-inspection rules within one year.
- Sets TGMS frequencies by track class and tonnage.
- Sets special schedules for cant deficiency and crossovers.
- Requires machine-detected deviations to be remediated.
- Anchors standards to regulations effective January 1, 2026.
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
Establishes minimum visual and automated railroad-track inspection frequencies, requires immediate protection or remediation of every detected defect, gives qualified inspectors control over repair movements, and bars safety waivers whose alternatives fail to detect every recognized unsafe condition.
Key Policy Areas
Railroad Safety, Track Inspection, Automated Rail Monitoring, Federal Railroad Administration, Rail Maintenance
Primary Purpose
Establishes minimum visual and automated railroad-track inspection frequencies, requires immediate protection or remediation of every detected defect, gives qualified inspectors control over repair movements, and bars safety waivers whose alternatives fail to detect every recognized unsafe condition.
Policy Domains
Section 2 visual frequency, remediation, inspector authority, waiver limits, TGMS schedules, and definitions
Identified Gains
- Passenger-rail riders
- Railroad operating employees
- Communities beside rail corridors
- Freight shippers exposed to derailment loss
- Qualified track inspectors
- Track-geometry equipment suppliers
- Rail maintenance contractors
Identified Costs
- Freight railroad operators
- Passenger railroad operators
- Rail track owners
- Rail dispatchers managing repair movements
- Rail customers affected by service interruptions
- FRA track-safety rulemaking staff
- Railroads using alternative inspection pilots
- Small railroads financing inspection systems
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Introduced in House
Ms. Titus introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Freight railroad operators, Passenger railroad operators, Passenger-rail riders
Positive-direction: Passenger-rail riders, Qualified track inspectors, Railroad operating employees, Track-geometry equipment suppliers
Negative-direction: Freight railroad operators, Passenger railroad operators, Rail dispatchers managing repair movements, Rail track owners, Railroads using alternative inspection pilots, Small railroads financing inspection systems
FRA track-safety rulemaking staff, FRA waiver-review officials
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "operator"
- → Dispatcher or crew moving equipment during repairs
- "railroad"
- → Railroad or track owner responsible for inspections
- "traveler"
- → Rail passenger or worker exposed to track risk
- "inspector"
- → Qualified person inspecting track for defects
- "secretary"
- → Transportation Secretary updating and enforcing rules
Note: {'scope_ids': ['visual_and_automated_track_inspections'], 'description': 'The bill mandates immediate action for every detected deviation and sharply limits alternative-method waivers, but it does not fund equipment or staffing, distinguish defect severity in the statutory trigger, or update its incorporated January 1, 2026 regulatory baseline automatically.'}
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The automated track-measurement system referenced in the incorporated January 1, 2026 regulation and subject to the bill's minimum schedules.
Track carrying through trains as defined by the incorporated January 1, 2026 federal rule.
A person designated as qualified to inspect track for defects under the January 1, 2026 version of 49 CFR 213.7(b).
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