For decades, the question of how many people belong in a locomotive cab has been one of the most contested issues in the railroad industry. Workers and unions have argued that two crew members are essential for safe operations. Railroad companies have pushed in the other direction, citing automation, technology, and cost savings as reasons to operate with a single person. The fight has gone on through multiple presidential administrations, agency rulemakings, court cases, and state legislation.
At Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp, our Virginia FELA lawyers have represented injured railroad workers for more than four decades, and we’ve watched this debate evolve from the inside. The way a train is staffed affects everything from how quickly a crew can respond to an emergency to how a worker can document the conditions that led to an injury. A FELA lawyer who handles these cases regularly knows that crew size shapes both workplace safety and the evidence available after something goes wrong.
The two-person crew rule that took effect in 2024 was supposed to settle the question. Whether it actually has is another matter.
What the Federal Rule Actually Says
On April 2, 2024, the Federal Railroad Administration issued a final rule requiring most freight train operations to have at least two crew members, typically a locomotive engineer and a conductor. The rule became effective June 10, 2024. The agency explained that a second crew member performs essential safety functions that can’t be replicated when the cab is staffed by only one person, including monitoring for hazards, responding to emergencies, communicating with dispatch during equipment failures, and managing issues such as derailments or hazardous material releases.
The FRA reviewed more than 13,500 written comments before finalizing the rule. The agency found that, without federal regulation, railroads could transition to single-crew operations without conducting meaningful risk assessments or even notifying federal regulators. The rule was designed to close that gap and create a uniform national standard so that workers, communities, and the environment weren’t left to depend on which state a train happened to be passing through.
That said, the rule isn’t absolute. It contains exceptions for:
- Train operations controlled by remote control operators
- Certain passenger and tourist services
- Some Class II and Class III railroads with smaller operations
- Operations that receive special FRA approval after demonstrating safety measures equivalent to a two-person crew
For approved one-person operations, the rule requires alerter devices, communication protocols with a remote railroad employee, location tracking, and procedures for responding to incidents like hazardous material releases.
Why a Second Crew Member Matters
The arguments for a two-person crew come from real incidents in which a second set of eyes made the difference between a near miss and a catastrophe.
In the 2013 Lac-Mégantic disaster in Quebec, a freight train carrying crude oil was parked overnight by its single crew member. The brakes were not properly secured. The unmanned train rolled downhill into the town of Lac-Mégantic, derailed, and exploded. Forty-seven people were killed, and a large portion of the downtown was leveled. That incident, more than any other, drove the federal interest in mandating that two crew members be on board for hazardous freight operations.
Day-to-day operations carry their own risks. A conductor walking the train at a stop can spot a problem the engineer can’t see from the cab. When a train breaks down in the middle of nowhere, a second crew member can flag traffic at a road crossing, communicate with dispatch from a different vantage point, or get help if the other crew member is hurt. In some cases, a second person can render aid to an injured worker before emergency services arrive.
The rule also matters for fatigue-related incidents. Railroad workers face some of the most demanding schedules of any industry in the country, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the FRA have both identified fatigue as a significant contributor to rail crashes. A second crew member can recognize when an engineer is becoming impaired, take over communications, or call for relief before something goes wrong.
What’s Happening Now
The two-person crew rule is in effect, but its future isn’t settled. Less than two weeks after the rule was finalized, four major railroads, BNSF Railway, Union Pacific, the Indiana Rail Road, and Florida East Coast Railway, filed lawsuits in federal court challenging it. In May 2025, the Association of American Railroads formally asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to repeal the rule entirely, calling it an unsubstantiated mandate that conflicts with the administration’s deregulatory goals.
The political picture is unusual. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy expressed support for a two-person crew mandate during his Senate confirmation hearing, and Vice President JD Vance, as a senator from Ohio, after the 2023 East Palestine derailment, introduced rail safety legislation that included a two-person crew provision. At the same time, the broader administration has signaled interest in reducing federal regulations across many industries, including transportation.
For railroad workers, the practical effect of this uncertainty is that what’s legally required today could change in the months ahead.
A Firm With Decades of FELA Experience
Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp has represented injured railroad workers across the eastern United States since the mid-1980s. The firm’s attorneys have written and co-authored books on railroad injury law that are used as reference texts in law libraries around the country, and have served in leadership roles with the largest national trial lawyer organizations focused on rail worker injuries.
If you’ve been hurt while working for a railroad, contact an experienced FELA lawyer to find out what options may be available to you. Whether your injury involved a one-person operation, a two-person crew, or a longstanding workplace condition, our attorneys understand how staffing decisions, equipment problems, and railroad policies interact in these cases.
If you or someone you love was injured working for the railroad, the team at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp is ready to listen. Contact us at 833-997-1774 for a free consultation to discuss your situation. Our firm has offices in Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Norfolk, and Chesapeake, and we represent injured railroad workers across Virginia, North Carolina, and beyond.