The Railway Safety Act of 2026 proposes a set of regulatory and operational requirements intended to reduce derailments, strengthen oversight of hazardous materials movements and improve emergency preparedness. Its provisions can be grouped into three broad domains: prevention and detection, risk governance for hazardous materials movements, and response capacity and accountability.
The bill would mandate wider use of defect detection technology designed to trigger stops when equipment problems emerge. A central provision requires hotbox detectors to be deployed at an average spacing of 15 miles, compared with the commonly cited 25-mile spacing.
The legislation would also expand the list of hazardous materials subject to enhanced safety standards, including vinyl chloride. For trains carrying covered commodities, the bill would require speed restrictions, improved braking requirements and route risk analyses intended to better account for exposure and consequence in the event of an incident.
To strengthen response readiness, the act would increase notification to state authorities about hazardous materials moving through their jurisdictions and would require improvements to railroad emergency response planning. It also seeks to prevent inadequate railcar inspection practices and to establish requirements to ensure railcars are properly maintained, citing concerns that current inspection guidance may be insufficiently rigorous.
The bill would increase maximum civil penalties for rail safety violations from $100,000 to $10 million to strengthen deterrence and promote compliance. It would also require two crew members to operate a train, emphasizing redundancy in emergencies.
Finally, the act includes provisions to support post-incident response capacity by authorizing reimbursements for first responders’ overtime, equipment costs and health assessments, and by expanding preparedness grants so fire departments can purchase protective gear.
