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This week marks a turning point in the fight for meaningful rail safety reform.

Representatives Troy E. Nehls (R-TX-22) and Seth Moulton (D-MA-06) have introduced the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2026 in the U.S. House of Representatives. This bipartisan proposal aims to strengthen the push already underway in the Senate.

Just days ago, the Railway Safety Act of 2026 was introduced in the Senate with bipartisan backing. SMART-TD supported that measure and is excited to see the Senate making a serious effort to address the safety failures exposed by the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

Now, with comprehensive legislation moving in both chambers, rail safety reform has real, bipartisan momentum for the first time in years.

A Shared Framework for Safety

While the Senate bill establishes important guardrails, the House’s Railroad Safety Enhancement Act sharpens key operational and enforcement provisions in ways that reflect the lived experience of railroaders. The House bill and the Senate bill share a lot of similarities, which is encouraging: it’s good to see these key issues being recognized by multiple legislators.

Among the issues both bills address is codifying a two-person crew (2-PC) requirement in federal law. SMART-TD has long maintained that a federal statute (not a reversible rule or regulation) is essential to ensure consistent, nationwide protection for crews and communities.

Both pieces of legislation also address the dangerous trend of excessive train length. They require enhanced reporting on train length and trailing tonnage in accidents and direct regulators to evaluate and update safety rules tied to additional train length and weight. For the first time, the issue of ultra-long trains is firmly embedded in federal lawmaking.

Inspection standards also get significant attention in both versions. The bills prohibit railroads from limiting the time necessary to complete safety inspections, strengthen freight car inspection requirements, mandate additional locomotive inspections by qualified mechanical inspectors, and establish structured audits to ensure compliance. These measures respond directly to growing pressure on frontline workers to move trains at the expense of thorough safety checks.

The bills further establish enforceable, performance-based standards for defect detection systems, ensuring that technology is deployed properly and backed by accountability. They also raise maximum civil penalties, up to $5 million in cases involving death or serious harm, reinforcing that safety violations must carry meaningful consequences.

Together, these provisions signal a shift away from the voluntary compliance the railroads have become all too used to, and toward enforceable safety standards.

The “Enhancement” Part of the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act

There are a handful of policies that set this bill from Nehls and Moulton apart from the RSA in the Senate. Three of the largest differences are all issues that SMART-TD has been fighting to achieve for quite a long time. We are more than happy to endorse these and are excited to see them acknowledged in the legislative process.

  • C3RS:  Under this bill, all Class I Railroads will have to join the FRA and NASA’s Confidential Close Call Reporting System.
  • The infrastructure supporting the ASKRAIL app will expand into rural areas to inform first responders of hazmat placement on our trains.
  • Funding will be added to eliminate additional dangerous rail crossings across the country

Three Years of Relentless Advocacy

Since East Palestine, SMART-TD’s Safety and Legislative Department has worked tirelessly on Capitol Hill. Our State Legislative Directors have done the same in State Houses across the country.

Progress has been uneven. In a post-East Palestine environment, rail safety proposals have advanced, stalled, and re-emerged in different forms. All too often, outdated industry narratives have competed with the real-world experiences of railroad workers.

Meanwhile, our members have continued operating longer trains under tighter schedules with shrinking margins for error.

Your frustration has been growing just as fast as your car counts. And they are absolutely justified.

SMART-TD’s goal has remained constant: a comprehensive federal rail safety law that protects railroad workers and the communities we serve, from sea to shining sea. Not a patchwork of state standards. Not temporary regulatory shifts. A binding federal law.

With legislation now advancing in both the House and Senate, that goal feels closer than it has in years.

This Is the Moment to Act

Bills do not become law because they are introduced. They become law because people demand action.

SMART-TD is closely tracking both measures and will continue engaging lawmakers to ensure that final legislation reflects your 24/7 reality, not corporate spin.

Rail Labor, the AAR, and the suits at the railroads are all in line to compete for the attention of Washington D.C. But elected officials listen most closely to the people who elect them, and can change their minds every two years.

A railroader speaking as both a constituent and a subject-matter expert carries weight that no lobbyist can replicate.

In the coming weeks, we will ask you to contact your Representatives and Senators. Share your experience. Explain what extreme train length means in practice. Make clear why two-person crews are essential. Describe the pressures that affect inspection integrity. Let them know that defect detectors are not supposed to be suggestions.

After three years of persistence, rail safety reform has gained unprecedented momentum.

Credit Where It’s Due

SMART-TD as an organization, and every rail member we have in our ranks, is thankful to Congressmen Troy Nehls and Seth Moulton, but being thankful doesn’t move the needle. Let’s do more than thank these men and those who stand with them in this effort. We need to help them finish the job!

Generational change in our industry is within our reach. Together, let’s make it law.

The freight railroads are asking the federal government for permission to replace required hands-on brake test training with computer simulations. In two separate filings before the Federal Railroad Administration, Union Pacific and CN/Illinois Central are seeking relief from 49 CFR § 232.203(b)(8), the rule that requires hands-on refresher training for employees who perform brake inspections and Class I air brake tests.

Let’s be clear about what that means.

They want to redefine “hands-on” to include what they call three-dimensional, web-based simulation programs. It isn’t just a video game…it’s a fancy one. To be clear, we aren’t talking about taking your qualifying ride on the simulator. We are talking about doing training modules on a desktop computer. These railroads are among several that have asked for federal permission to use these training modules not to supplement, but to replace real-world instruction. What began as limited relief is being pushed toward permanent replacement.

Carriers Skirt the Law with the Bare Minimum

Brake inspections are not theoretical exercises. They are physical, tactile, and situational. They happen in live yards, in bad weather, under pressure, and on equipment that varies in condition. The law acknowledged that reality, which is why it required hands-on refresher training in the first place.

Now the carriers want to lower that federal floor.

The pattern is familiar. “Training” becomes a digital record in a database. A completed module. A certificate. Proof that an employee “received and understood” the material. The appearance of compliance replaces legitimate instruction and the confirmation of competency and understanding.

When that happens, the company has its documentation, which seems to be the endgame.

This isn’t modernization. It’s cost control, and it puts all the liability squarely on us as individuals.

Over-reliance on Virtual Reality is NOT the Norm in Similar Industries

Across other safety-critical industries that operate massive equipment, continuing education looks very different. Airline pilots undergo recurring simulator training in full-motion, instructor-supervised environments and must repeatedly demonstrate proficiency. Nuclear power plant operators complete rigorous requalification programs with operational drills and scenario-based evaluations mandated by federal regulators. Maritime officers attend approved courses with practical components to maintain credentials. Even in commercial trucking, carriers routinely require in-person refreshers and supervised evaluations tied to real-world performance.

Companies in these industries do NOT attempt to replace required hands-on training with a desktop module and call it equivalent.

Yet in freight railroading, where we move three-mile-long, 20,000-ton trains through towns and cities, the carriers are arguing that this is solid field experience.

SMART-TD to the FRA: Deny These Petitions

There is something deeply unserious about this approach. Our craft is entrusted with hazardous materials, complex mechanical systems, and the safety of the communities our trains move through every day. The idea that refresher training for verifying the safety of brake systems can be reduced to what amounts to an interactive video game should concern anyone who takes rail safety seriously.

SMART-TD has urged FRA to deny these petitions and reaffirm that “hands-on” means what it says. Simulation can supplement training. It cannot replace real-world, field-based experience in safety-critical work.

Once again, the railroads are asking regulators to lower a minimum safety standard. That should tell you everything you need to know about how seriously they view continuing education in our craft. After all, it is just the integrity of the brake systems we are talking about. What could go wrong?

New Crew Room and Breakroom Safety Posters Now Available to All Locals Across Rail and Bus Departments

For more than a century, railroaders and transit workers have survived by doing what the carriers and agencies refuse to do: look out for each other. Today, SMART-TD is putting that tradition into print, literally.

Railroads Are Hiding Safety. We’re Bringing It Back Into the Light.

Across the industry, Class I carriers and short lines alike have begun quietly shifting their federally required workplace-injury postings off the crew-room walls and into computer systems most crews barely have time to access, let alone study. CSX led the charge in 2020 when it requested permission to stop posting injuries and illnesses where crews could see them. They wanted them hidden in a digital maze instead of stapled to a bulletin board where rail workers talk, learn, and prepare to work safely.

That move was approved despite objections from labor. But it means what used to be a conversation starter in every on-duty point has become an afterthought buried behind mandatory checkboxes. The result? Thirty days can pass before anyone even learns someone was hurt. That’s thirty days of walking the same bad footing, using the same bad equipment, and encountering the same conditions that caused the injury.

And CSX isn’t alone. Other carriers are following the same pattern: injuries are up, fatalities continue, and transparency is down. Instead of engaging crews, the railroads are compromising safety.

Bus Operators Are Getting The Same Treatment

And this problem isn’t just on the rails.

On the bus side, too many transit agencies are drifting down the same dangerous path: delaying, burying, or quietly minimizing the very safety information operators need right now, not weeks from now.

Across many properties, when a workplace hazard is reported, agencies have as long as 15 days (HALF A MONTH) to investigate and decide what they want to say about it. Only then do they post their findings. That delay may be tied to local policy, state, OSHA, or just an agency’s decision, but the effect on frontline workers is the same: Operators are kept in the dark, and darkness is where accidents happen.

Fifteen days is a long time for a bus operator navigating traffic, dealing with assaults, mechanical defects, blind spots, and unpredictable passengers. Too much can happen in that window. Too much already has!

So, if transit agencies and railroads won’t keep us informed in real-time, we will.
If they won’t post hazards promptly, we’ll put them on the wall ourselves.
If they’re fine with our brothers and sisters finding danger the hard way, we are not.

E-3 Committee Leading the Way for Rail and Bus Alike

Last summer, SMART-TD’s Empowerment, Education, and Engagement (E-3) Committee began designing and releasing new, eye-catching, durable safety posters for Locals to display prominently in crew rooms, breakrooms, and on-duty locations. These posters make our union visible again. They highlight everything from meeting times and SMART app resources to members’ rights and union benefits.

Now, we are adding your physical safety to that list.

Safety is at the core of everything this union stands for, and it should not be hidden in a corporate database or left sitting in an agency inbox for half a month.

These posters are free to any Local that requests them, and they are built for real daily conditions: heavy lamination so they can be written on, erased, updated, and reused day after day as hazards change.

Because that’s how safety really works.
Not on a website.
Not in a spreadsheet.
On the wall, in the room, and in the conversation.

Real Hazards Require Real-Time Awareness

When a yard foreman blows a knee stepping into a hole between tracks 17 and 18, the next foreman shouldn’t learn about it a month later from a digital document buried behind mandatory training clicks or by stepping in the same damn hole.

When a bus’s lift malfunctions, a passenger is becoming a consistent security risk, a lighting outage creates a dangerous walk path, or Route 17 becomes an assault hotspot after 8pm, the next operator shouldn’t discover that by becoming the next victim.

These dangers should be known before the next shift walks on the job. But if carriers and agencies think injury prevention isn’t worth a single piece of paper, then SMART-TD will provide that paper, laminate it, and make sure every crew room, breakroom, and reporting location puts safety back where it belongs: in plain sight.

These Posters Are for YOU, Your Crew, and Your Family

These posters are more than injury reports.
They’re a platform for hazard identification, near-miss alerts, and preventative action.

Rail or bus, these posters give local officers a tool to inform members before the injury happens, not just after.

Local Officers: Lead From the Front

Every Local Chair, Legislative Rep, and officer, rail and bus, has an opportunity and a responsibility to take part in this effort.

Posting these flyers isn’t just communication.
It’s ownership.

It’s reclaiming your workplace as union space, where members look out for each other and no one walks into a hazard blind.

When the posters go up, conversations start.
When conversations start, injuries drop.
When we take safety into our own hands, everyone goes home the way they showed up.

Locals can request the new posters directly from SMART-TD using the official order form.

It’s Time to Get Loud. It’s Time to Get Visible. It’s Time to Protect Each Other Again.
No member should ever walk into the same hazard that injured a brother or sister the day before.

Together, we will make sure they never have to.

BNSF has gone to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) asking for a waiver that should set off alarms for every yard employee working Remote Control Operations (RCO).

What BNSF is Asking For

In Docket No. FRA-2025-0687, BNSF is asking FRA to let them change when we are required to perform a conditioning run of the Remote Control Pullback Protection system, AKA run our zone. Right now, the rule is clear: you run the zone at the first practical time after the start of your shift. That conditioning run verifies that the pullback system will actually stop the movement and that the protected zone is set up the way it’s supposed to be.

BNSF wants to roll that requirement back so it happens whenever it is convenient for them. They’re saying that changing the timing will “promote greater utilization” of pullback protection and improve safety.

That’s backwards.

Why Running Our Zone Matters

A safety system that isn’t verified at the start of a shift is not a safeguard.  It’s a gamble. Rail yards are dynamic environments. Switches get thrown. Cars get shoved. Maintenance happens. Conditions change constantly. The conditioning run forces us to eliminate assumptions before those assumptions kill somebody.

Retread On Bad Tires

As crazy as this sounds to those of us who have run RCO box jobs, BNSF isn’t the first to try this.

In 2017, Union Pacific asked FRA for essentially the same waiver. It was denied. FRA’s Railroad Safety Board decided it was “not in the public interest and not consistent with railroad safety.”

SMART-TD told the FRA that its statement remains true in 2026. We told them this waiver does not provide an equivalent level of safety, and we reminded them of the precedent the first Trump Administration’s FRA set with the 2017 denial of UP’s attempt.

Yard Foreman Safety Is Not Optional

When a pullback system fails, when a shove goes wrong, when equipment ends up on the ground, it’s not the BNSF executives getting hurt or fired.

It’s us.

SMART News will keep you informed when FRA puts out its final decision on this ridiculous waiver request from BNSF.

To read SMART-TD’s comments to the FRA on this waiver, you can follow this link. ►

Railroaders know that we are getting pushed into unsafe jobs every day. We get called for and forced into jobs we’re not trained for, haven’t seen in years, or have never worked at all. This isn’t a small mistake. This is dangerous, and the people asking us to do it know exactly what they’re doing.

The “Buddy Routine” Is a Trick

Managers often act friendly when they want something:

  • “Do me a favor.”
  • “You’ll be fine.”
  • “We really need you tonight.”

They try to make it feel personal, like you’re helping a friend.

Here’s the truth:

A manager who asks you to work outside your qualifications is NOT your friend.

They are trying to make you feel guilty so their numbers look good. Even if it puts your life at risk, they are cool with making that trade if it prevents them from getting yelled at on the morning conference call. That is the reality in crew rooms across the country.

This Work Can Kill You

Going into unfamiliar industries or territories puts you at real risk:

  • Unknown crossings that need protection
  • Unexpected Close Clearances
  • Derailing equipment
  • Walking into dangerous ground conditions

These aren’t hypotheticals. They’re the hazards railroaders face every day.
Managers know this, but they ask anyway.

The Pilot Promise Is Too Often A Lie

They’ll say:

  • “An MTO will ride with you.”
  • “We’ll send a pilot.”

But when you show up, it often turns into:

“He had to leave. Here’s a map he sketched on an envelope. You got this kid.”

Once you accept the call, you own the risk, not them.

If Something Goes Wrong, You’re on Your Own

When there’s a derailment, injury, or rule violation:

  • Their promises disappear.
  • Their memory goes blank.
  • Suddenly, you should have known better than to have accepted the call in the first place.

The same manager who just got done calling you “buddy” will now say:

“The employee is responsible for working within his/her own qualifications. That is an FRA violation.”

And even if they wanted to stand up for you, it won’t matter if you’re hurt or dead.

Your Life and Your Family Come First

Your job pays your bills and provides your family’s health care.
Your safety protects their future.

No manager’s guilt trip or phony friendship is worth risking that. It is not a good trade to roll the dice on whether your kids have a dad or a mom to make sure a manager doesn’t get yelled at for missing an on-time origination.

SMART-TD’s Message Is Simple

1. If you aren’t qualified, don’t take the job.

2. A friendly manager routine is an act aimed at getting you to accept risk for their failures in planning.

3. Verbal promises mean nothing once something goes wrong.

4. No job is worth your life, your health, or your career.

Protect yourself. Trust your training.

Say NO to unsafe assignments.

Washington, D.C.— On February 5, 2026, the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee underscored a critical message for SMART-TD members: Railroad Retirement remains a strong and valuable system, but chronic underfunding of the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) itself is creating unacceptable service delays that directly harm railroaders and their families.

The Good: RRB Is Much Stronger Than Social Security

Committee Chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) emphasized the system’s long-term financial strength and sustainability, calling it a model for retirement security nationwide.

“The RRB’s trust fund is predicted to continue running smoothly and solvently for 75 years, which is the limit of our projections. It is the gold standard for sustainability.”

Lawmakers from both parties acknowledged that Railroad Retirement provides benefits that far exceed those available under Social Security, particularly for career railroaders.

During the hearing, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the committee’s Ranking Member, remarked that, “Rail workers who have been on the job for 30 years and retire at the age of 60 receive more than $4,500 a month. That is the good news.”

For working SMART-TD members, this underscores that Railroad Retirement remains one of the strongest retirement systems in the country, rewarding long careers and supporting families in retirement.

The Bad: Chronic Underfunding and Lack of Service

While praising the benefit structure, Sen. Sanders delivered a blunt warning about the consequences of Congress failing to adequately fund the Railroad Retirement Board’s day-to-day office operations.

“The bad news, Mr. Chairman, is that the Railroad Retirement Board budget has been flat for several years. As a result of this insufficient funding, it takes an average of 470 days for the Railroad Retirement Board to determine if a worker is eligible to receive the assistance they need.”

And The Ugly: Real Life Emergencies Met With Long Delays

Those delays have serious consequences for active railroaders, particularly those dealing with injuries, illness, or sudden career interruptions.

Sanders also pointed to the erosion of in-person services, noting that rail workers are sometimes forced to wait up to two and a half hours on the phone to receive assistance. He added that many field offices in rail communities have been forced to shut down or substantially reduce their services.

Even when eligibility is eventually approved, workers are often left waiting far too long for relief.

“And even when it is determined that a worker is eligible to receive disability benefits, it can take 18 months or longer for them to receive those benefits. In my view, that is unacceptable.”

What This Means for SMART-TD Members Still Working

For active railroaders, the hearing confirmed several hard realities. Disability claims can take well over a year, leaving workers and their families in prolonged financial uncertainty. Field office closures and staffing shortages continue to limit access to knowledgeable, in-person assistance when it is needed most. These delays are not caused by the benefit system itself, but by years of flat funding for RRB administration despite growing workloads and increasing demands on the agency.

SMART-TD has consistently warned that underfunding RRB operations harms railroaders at their most vulnerable moments, and this hearing placed those concerns squarely on the congressional record.

What This Means for Retirees and Survivors

For retirees and survivors, the hearing offered both reassurance and caution. The Railroad Retirement system itself remains financially strong, with long-term solvency projections extending 75 years into the future. At the same time, service delays and reduced field office access can complicate survivor claims, benefit adjustments, and major life-event changes. Continued congressional attention is essential to ensure retirees can access the benefits they earned without unnecessary barriers.

Bottom Line for SMART-TD Railroaders

The Senate hearing made one thing unmistakably clear: Railroad Retirement works, and the trust fund is strong. However, the Railroad Retirement Board cannot properly serve railroaders without adequate staffing and funding. We all know that the RRB is self-funded out of our paychecks. The money is there and ready to fix the staffing and technology problems that prevent railroaders from accessing these important services. What the RRB and rail labor are asking is that Congress allow us permission to use these funds to fill the gaps.

SMART-TD will continue pressing Congress to fully fund RRB administrative operations, restore and strengthen field office access, and ensure no railroader or retiree is forced to wait months (or even years) for benefits they have already earned.

The birthday of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks on Feb. 4 offers an opportunity to reflect on the lasting impact of her courage. As a union, we also owe it to ourselves to evaluate the role public transportation continues to play in shaping our communities.

Honoring Rosa Parks’ Legacy

This year, some bus and transit agencies across the country are commemorating the day in a powerful and symbolic way: by reserving a seat on every bus and passenger train with a sign honoring Parks’ legacy.

This simple gesture speaks volumes.

Public Transit: Where Courage Sparked a Movement

Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery city bus in 1955 was not just a personal act of defiance: it was a spark that helped ignite the modern civil rights movement. Her courage reminded the world that dignity and equality are not abstract ideas. They are embodied in everyday moments, often in everyday places.

Few places are as “everyday” or as essential as public transit.

Buses and trains are where working people connect to jobs, families, schools, and opportunities. They are where communities come together, and they have long served as the setting for some of our nation’s most important steps forward.

For SMART-TD bus and passenger rail members, this moment of remembrance carries special weight.

Transit Workers Build Communities

It’s the operators, conductors, onboard crews, mechanics, dispatchers, and frontline professionals who make the system run safely and smoothly. It’s our members, day in and day out, who make sure those seats, those buses, those trains, opportunity, and access are there for the public.

Honoring Rosa Parks is a reminder that public transportation is more than a service. It is a platform for dignity, equality, and opportunity.

So when a seat is reserved in Rosa Parks’ name, it’s about remembering the past as well as recognizing the continuing role transit plays in shaping a better future, and the vital role union workers play in that journey.

Because in public transportation, the road forward has always been about more than travel.

It’s been about progress.

And SMART-TD members are proud to be driving it.

A Message from Ohio State Safety & Legislative Director Clyde Whitaker

The Night That Changed East Palestine Forever

On February 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. Thirty-eight cars jumped the track, fires burned for days, and toxic chemicals filled the air and water around the town. Residents were evacuated, and their lives were changed forever.

Three years later, railroad traffic still rumbles through East Palestine every day, just as it did before. Trains carrying toxic materials go through without pause. People in town still worry about their health and safety. Many haven’t seen the money they were promised from settlement agreements. The pain hasn’t gone away, and it feels like much of America has already forgotten.

Ohio Strengthened Defect Detector Laws

One real safety improvement came from Ohio lawmakers in 2024. After the derailment, the Ohio Legislature passed stronger rail safety requirements, including new rules on railroad wayside defect detectors in the biennial transportation budget signed by Governor Mike DeWine.

The new law requires railroads doing business in Ohio to make sure that wayside detector systems are operational, effective, and adhered to properly.

This change didn’t happen by accident. It was driven by SMART-TD members, our Ohio State Legislative Board, and railroaders across this state who refused to let East Palestine become just another headline that fades away.

Every meeting, every testimony, and every call with lawmakers leaned into a simple message: Ohioans deserve these basic protections. The people of East Palestine deserve them most of all.

Ohio became the first state in the nation to legislate strong defect detector requirements.

That law is real progress. After all, the NTSB traced the cause of the East Palestine crash to a defective wheel bearing that overheated, which is exactly the kind of failure defect detectors are meant to catch.

While the Cloud Was Still in the Air

But here’s the bitter truth: for many railroad crews in Ohio today, that law hasn’t changed how railroads behave.

And I want people to understand how quickly the railroads went right back to business as usual.

Within ten days of the derailment in East Palestine, while the cloud was metaphorically still hanging over Ohio, I received a call from a crew right here in our state.

They told me they had been hit by a hot bearing detector. They were coming close to their 12-hour Hours of Service limit, the federal law that dictates how long a rail crew can continue to move trains or turn a wheel.

Instead of being ordered to stop and inspect, they were told to ignore the detector alarm and keep it moving.

Not long after, they passed another train, and that crew radioed them with the words no railroader ever wants to hear:

A wheel on your train is fully on fire.

Our crew got the train stopped just short of a bridge that runs directly over one of the largest highways in Ohio.

The eyes of the world were still on Ohio’s rails. And even with that level of scrutiny, when the choice had to be made, (stop and inspect, or keep the velocity of that night’s freight moving) the decision was made to roll the dice.

The railroad got lucky that night. The consequences could have been East Palestine-level devastation brought to one of the largest population centers in our state.

They just can’t help themselves.

Even when logic, common sense, and self-preservation all scream that they should be part of the solution, they always go out of their way to chase short-sighted, immediate profits.

New Laws, Same Old Railroads

Over the past three years, SMART-TD members in Ohio have reported that when a wayside defect detector indicates a trending hot wheel or overheated bearing, they are told not to stop the train to inspect it.

Instead, they are ordered to keep going until the next so-called “natural stop,” even when the detector data clearly shows something is wrong.

In some cases, crews have initiated stopping procedures, getting out of throttle and into the brakes, only to be told to keep moving.

This is happening too often.

The safest action, stopping the train to inspect, is denied.

That’s not what we fought for.

That’s not what the people of East Palestine deserve.

One documented case involved a Key Train, which is a hazardous-materials train with federal designation, where two separate defect detectors flagged the same hot wheel location.

Regardless, the crew was told to press on for more than 150 miles to reach their destination without stopping.

One crew member lives in a town that the train passed through. He knew firsthand the danger to his own family and neighbors.

He asked twice to walk his train and inspect the wheel.

Our brother was denied both times.

He did exactly what SMART-TD teaches and what the railroads claim they want us to do: put safety first.

But the railroad put policy and profit ahead of safety.

This isn’t isolated to Ohio or neighboring states like Pennsylvania.

Across the country, conductors and engineers want to stop and check suspected defects. They have scientific evidence from defect detectors that something is wrong.

But they are repeatedly told not to stop, and to keep the train rolling through small towns just like East Palestine.

That’s unacceptable.

And it’s proof that the railroads have short memories.

Three years ago, they promised safety in speeches and press releases.

Their actions say otherwise.

3rd Anniversary Is a Perfect Moment to Take Stock

On this third anniversary of the East Palestine disaster, we must reflect not just on what we’ve learned, but on what’s already been forgotten.

Yes, Ohio passed a law that should make trains safer.

But if the railroads ignore it when it counts, their pledges mean nothing.

SMART-TD is calling on every member in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and across the country to stand firm for safety.

Go on record every time advocating for the safest choice, to stop and inspect. And document it when your request is ignored or denied.

Tell your local union officials. Tell your Safety and Legislative Representatives. Document these incidents.

We need to hold the railroads accountable and prove these aren’t isolated events.

We should also renew our fight for bipartisan federal rail safety legislation, like the Rail Safety Act and other commonsense bills that would protect workers and the public nationwide.

A consistent federal standard would prevent the patchwork of laws that railroads manipulate for gray areas.

Turning Up the Heat

Since 1860, railroads have proven they won’t change because it is the right thing to do.

But some come to the fold because they see the light.

And some because they feel the flame.

On this anniversary of a preventable rail disaster on the Ohio/Pennsylvania border, we must recommit ourselves to turning the heat up on that flame to a point it can never be ignored again.

For ourselves.
For each other.
For the people of East Palestine, whose lives will never be the same.

Clyde Whitaker
Ohio State Safety & Legislative Director, SMART-TD



What follows is an editorial from Chris Christianson in response to an Op-Ed by Dr. Erin Bendily in Louisiana. Christianson’s words ring as true in Chicago, Nebraska, Florida or California as they do in his home state of Louisiana.

Read Rail safety mandates don’t belong in America’s transportation bill ►

Chris Christianson, Louisiana Safety and Legislative Director

I’m a proud fourth-generation railroader who has spent more than 20 years working the rails for Union Pacific and serve as Louisiana’s Safety and Legislative Director for SMART-TD, the largest railroad union in the country.

Over the years, I’ve watched coworkers lose their limbs. I’ve attended funerals that never should have happened. I’ve seen what happens when safety becomes “at the corporation’s discretion” or “controlled by market factors.” AKA “optional.”

These buzzwords might keep people safe in the simulations run by PhDs in a think tank, but when cost-cutting outruns common sense and when people making safety decisions are far removed from the work, people get hurt or killed.

That’s why I read Erin Bendily’s recent op-ed with more than passing interest. I felt compelled to set the record straight.

In her piece, Dr. Erin Bendily argues that federal rail safety mandates, including provisions of the Railway Safety Act (RSA), are unnecessary, overly burdensome, and potentially harmful to Louisiana’s economy.

She presents her argument as a sober, fact-based analysis, citing regulatory costs, warning against “one-size-­fits-all” mandates, and suggesting that market forces, existing rules, and railroad discretion are sufficient to manage safety without additional federal intervention. It is an argument delivered with confidence, credentials, and the language of authority.

The problem? It just isn’t true.

As the Vice President of Policy and Strategy at the Pelican Institute, Dr. Bendily’s analysis rests on spreadsheets, economic models, and regulatory theory.

Mine rests on experience: not anecdotes, not hypotheticals, but decades of watching how railroads behave when safety is left to their discretion.

Here is the truth that never appears in think-tank white papers: rail safety regulations exist because railroads have repeatedly proven that they will not voluntarily choose safety over profit. Every major safety rule on the books today was written in response to blood on the ground, not academic concern.

I have ridden the rear rail car of a two-and-a-half-mile train downhill into a yard at night, in poor lighting, holding my radio as high as I could so the engineer might hear me when I gave instructions or yelled “stop.” I have walked rail beds for miles along adjacent creeks, balancing on uneven rock in the dark, just to reach a mechanical problem. I have worked jobs where a single missed detail could kill someone.

Those realities do not appear in cost-benefit analyses.

Dr. Bendily speaks authoritatively about safety outcomes without ever having to answer a radio call that comes too late. She speaks about efficiency without ever having to explain to a family why someone didn’t come home. She treats safety as a variable to be optimized rather than a baseline requirement for survival.

That is the central flaw in her argument: rail safety is not an abstract policy question. It is a lived condition.

The railroads have enormous financial resources. They employ armies of lawyers, lobbyists, and public relations firms to push back against every safety measure that might cost them money. Groups like the Pelican Institute and “experts” like Dr. Bendily are part of that ecosystem. They make a living providing intellectual cover fire for decisions that look good on earning statements and are catastrophic on the ground.

Let’s be clear: l ‘m not saying Dr. Bendily lacks intelligence or academic credentials. I’m saying she lacks proximity to this topic. When it comes to rail safety, proximity matters.

I’m offering it up that maybe she should not be considered any kind of authority on rail safety legislation in Louisiana. These safety regulations are supported by every craft in the industry, legislators on both sides of the aisle, and Presidents Biden and Trump.

SMART-TD, the union I represent, can (and does) argue publicly and privately about wages, attendance policies, sick time, and quality-of-life issues. Those are legitimate subjects for negotiation and debate. But when the question is whether rail workers survive their shift, the conversation changes.

At that point, it is no longer about ideology or regulatory philosophy, and it sure as hell isn’t time for a PhD at the Pelican Institute to be listened to.

Railroaders are not a line item. We are the people who walk the right-of-way, throw the switches, inspect the equipment, and manage massive, unforgiving machines in conditions most Americans never see.

So when lobbyists, law firms, or think-tank executives insist they know what level of safety is “enough,” they are speaking far outside their depth. They do not bear the consequences of being wrong. We do.

If Dr. Bendily and the Pelican Institute want to debate tax policy or regulatory structure, fine. But when they move into the realm of rail safety and argue against protections designed to keep people alive, they are no longer engaging in neutral analysis. They are choosing how much railroaders’ lives and trackside towns are worth compared to the rate of velocity on the freight we haul.

Rail workers are the experts on rail safety. Full stop. Not because we read about it, but because we live it. No amount of credentialed commentary can outweigh that fact.

This industry has learned repeatedly that safety regulations are written in response to tragedy. Ignoring that history doesn’t make it disappear. It guarantees it will repeat.

That is something we cannot, and will not, accept.

Please look at the RSA and all other rail safety legislation. Take the advice of these “experts” who have never operated a switch and who live in communities far from the tracks with a grain of salt.

As we approach the third anniversary of the Norfolk Southern derailment in Ohio, let’s consider our sources with more scrutiny than we once did. Let’s decide to listen to the guy with actual skin in the game, even if he isn’t wearing a fancy suit. It is time Louisiana and the rest of the country stand up and insist the Rail Safety Act gets the up or down vote on the floor of Congress that it deserves, and that we deserve.

SMART-TD and FRA React

A Shameful Retreat From 41 Years of Leadership, Compassion, and Proven Safety

This week marks a deeply sad and consequential moment for rail labor, rail management, and the freight rail industry as a whole.

CSX Transportation has announced its decision to dismantle Operation RedBlock. This program has stood as the gold standard for substance abuse prevention, peer prevention, and safety in railroading for more than four decades. Since its founding in 1984, Operation RedBlock has saved lives, preserved careers, stabilized families, and safeguarded the movement of America’s freight.

“This is a sad day — not just for our members, but for management as well,” said SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson. “Operation RedBlock worked because it saved lives, it saved careers, and it prevented countless incidents that would have cost the railroad far more than the program ever did.”

A PROGRAM BUILT ON TRUST AND PROVEN RESULTS

Operation RedBlock was never about shielding employees from responsibility. It was about ensuring that railroaders did not report to work under the influence, under extreme distress, or under levels of distraction that lead to derailments, collisions, injuries, and fatalities.

By offering a confidential, non-punitive path to help, RedBlock did something in-house corporate programs rarely achieve. It created trust.

That trust ensured that men and women on the ballast removed themselves from service when they were not fit for duty and sought long-term solutions to the underlying issues creating instability in their lives. In doing so, Operation RedBlock did not just benefit workers. It safeguarded train crews, supervisors, communities along the right-of-way, and CSX’s bottom line.

For 41 years, this program has prevented accidents before they happen. That is not speculation. That is its record.

That record was repeatedly recognized by federal regulators. The Federal Railroad Administration acknowledged that Operation RedBlock and its coordination with CSX’s EAP produced measurable safety benefits.

“FRA has been impressed by the CSX Operation RedBlock programs, the EAP program, and the synergy and cooperation between the two programs,” said Jerry Powers, Staff Director of the FRA’s Part 219 Drug and Alcohol Program. “FRA considers an effective mark-off program and voluntary self-referral and co-worker reporting policies as key force-multipliers to Part 219-regulated testing in the deterrence and detection of drug use and alcohol misuse.”

FRA’s Powers went on to tell SMART News that, “The level of referrals is approximately three times greater year-to-year as compared to random and reasonable cause/suspicion positives, a figure that truly speaks to the outstanding efforts of CSX Drug & Alcohol, EAP, and OperationRedBlock Program personnel.  One must keep in mind that these are not just statistics but actual individual employees being helped with substance disorders that can not only improve railroad safety but also positively impact the families of the employees and the emotional development of their children.

The mark-offs and referrals demonstrate that the ORB Programs under the leadership of Mike Jackson and Phillip Young with Tad Hood (MOW and Signal) and Scott Higgins (Mechanical) has been successful in promoting and creating on-going cultural change and employee engagement to reduce and eliminate unsafe behavior.”

As President Ferguson put it, “Operation RedBlock didn’t survive for four decades because it only benefited labor. It survived because it worked. It made CSX safer, more stable, and more reliable. Programs without value do not last 41 years in this industry.”

A HISTORY THE INDUSTRY CHOSE TO IGNORE

The dismantling of Operation RedBlock at CSX did not happen in a vacuum.

Amtrak and Union Pacific once had similar union-run RedBlock programs. Those programs also saved lives and served their memberships and public safety well. Both were ultimately taken over by management under the belief that carrier-controlled Employee Assistance Programs could do the job better.

They could not.

Amtrak’s program disappeared entirely. Union Pacific lost nearly all traction after experienced union coordinators were removed. The industry has already seen this movie, and it does not end well.

“We watched this happen at Amtrak and Union Pacific, and now CSX is following the same path,” said Mike Jackson, Operation RedBlock Program Coordinator for CSX and a member of SMART-TD Local 1374 (New Castle, PA). “Once management took control at those properties, the trust disappeared. When trust disappears, people stop coming forward — and safety suffers.”

MORE THAN A PROGRAM ARE BEING LOST

The loss of Operation RedBlock is part of a much larger trend: railroads abandoning the commitments they once claimed to believe in.

In the 1980s and 1990s, railroads invested in robust mental health and substance abuse programs staffed by masters-level counselors embedded in divisions. These professionals met railroaders face-to-face. They followed through. They cared whether people lived or died.

Today, most rail carriers rely on outsourced, checkbox-driven EAP vendors with little accountability and no connection to the railroad lifestyle. That is why the union-run Operation RedBlock stood above the rest.

“Federal law requires railroads to have EAPs, but nothing requires them to make those programs effective,” Jackson said. “What we’ve lost across this industry is real commitment. The health and mental condition of our coworkers has to matter. It can’t be reduced to compliance on paper.”

Operation RedBlock at CSX was the last program of its kind still standing, with 41 years strong.

THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO BUILT AND SUSTAINED REDBLOCK

SMART-TD extends its deepest thanks to the dedicated members and local teams who made Operation RedBlock effective across generations at CSX.

We also acknowledge the pioneers of peer prevention who carried this mission across the industry, including Bobby Bonds, who led the Operation RedBlock program at Amtrak, and Matt Schumaker, who ran the program at Union Pacific. Their work saved lives, strengthened families, and set standards that should not be forgotten.

SMART-TD also recognizes the extraordinary service of Brother Mike Jackson, whose life’s work has been dedicated to protecting railroaders when they were at their most vulnerable.

“Mike, Bobby, and Matt were often our members’ best friend on their worst day,” President Ferguson said. “They brought credibility, compassion, and accountability to this program every single day. We thank all of them for their years of service, expertise, and unwavering commitment to our brothers and sisters. The rail industry is safer because of them.”

Our Operation RedBlock Program Coordinators along with local teams have long served as a critical watchdog. They monitored federal compliance, holding carriers accountable, and stood between rail labor and unchecked corporate indifference.

“I’m deeply disappointed that this mission is being dismantled,” Jackson said. “What makes it worse is knowing our members will no longer have someone standing in their corner, making sure our industry doesn’t fail the people who are struggling.”

CSX’S DECISION IS AN ABDICATION OF LEADERSHIP

CSX claims that nothing will change. They want us to believe that Operation RedBlock’s functions will simply be absorbed into its internal Employee Assistance Program.

We all know better.

When discipline, attendance, and job security all flow from the same entity, voluntary self-reporting disappears. Fear replaces trust. Problems go underground until they surface as accidents, injuries, or fatalities.

By eliminating the independent, union-run structure that made Operation RedBlock effective, CSX has dismantled the very safeguard that kept unfit employees out of service and trains moving safely.

NOT THE END OF THE FIGHT

This is a sad day for rail labor and a shameful one for CSX.

But it is not the end.

SMART-TD will continue to honor Operation RedBlock, the lives it saved, and the brothers and sisters who made it work. We will continue to support our members no matter what structure the carriers choose to tear down.

“No matter what the carriers do, our members need to know this: we have their backs,” Jackson said. “We will keep fighting for them — even when the road forward isn’t clear.”

Rail labor takes care of its own.

Operation RedBlock proved that for more than 41 years.