Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the freight train operator with tracks all throughout Oklahoma, is one of four railroads asking federal appeals court to throw out a new Biden administration rule requiring two-person train crews.
The railways contend the rules unveiled last week from the Federal Railroad Administration are arbitrary, capricious and an illegal abuse of discretion. Joining BNSF in the court actions were the Union Pacific, the Indiana Railroad and Florida East Coast Railway.
The rules were sought following last year’s derailment of a chemical train in Palestine, Ohio. While BNSF declined to comment, UP stated the rule lacks any data showing two people in a cab are safer than one and “hinders our ability to compete in a world where technology is changing the transportation industry and prevents us from preparing our workforce for jobs of the future.”
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