On May 15, Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) signed Assembly Bill 337 into law, just two months after Colorado’s governor signed a similar law. Similar legislation has been passed in California, Arizona, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.
Matt Parker, Nevada State Legislative Board Chairman for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, says the bill will improve safety for both railroaders and communities.
“We let legislators know that A.B. 337 should be passed so when things go wrong, two trained and experienced crew members are in the train cab to help, no matter what,” Parker says. “This is about the safety of the communities we travel through – not just for the train crews, but more importantly for the residents of those communities.”
Nevada previously had a crew size law that dates back to 1909 and required at least five people aboard the train. That was repealed back in the 1980s.
Two-person crew bills have been introduced in more than a dozen state legislatures this year as groups like BLET and SMART Transportation Division push for crew size protections across the county. Despite push back from the industry, Colorado enacted a crew law back in March, Other states have not been as successful. Wyoming’s House of Representatives passed a two-person crew bill this spring but it died in the state Senate.
John Risch, national legislative director for SMART Transportation Division, tells his members at the time not to be discouraged when two-person crew legislation fails.
“Even when we come up a tad short in a state, it should not be viewed as a failure, but instead the building block to the next legislative session,” Risch writes.
The railroad industry, including the Association of American Railroads, has long argued that multiple people on a train does not improve safety.
