The following statement can be attributed to Steve Pociask, President of the American Consumer Institute, regarding today’s decision by the U.S Department of Transportation and Federal Railroad Administration to abandon an Obama-era proposal to force all railroads to operate with two people in the cab of a locomotive:
“American Consumers won today with this ruling, as railroads will have the needed flexibility moving forward to modify operations and in turn reduce costs. Rather than enhance safety, mandating two-person crews could have made rail operations more dangerous by crippling railroads’ ability to control costs and fund equipment upgrades. Rail operators have already invested unprecedented resources in modernizing the safety features of America’s rail network – most notably positive train control (PTC) systems already in use on many routes. The USDOT should be commended for taking this important action today.”