PENNSYLVANIA — It is not easy to forget the images of torched railcars smoldering as they lay beside train tracks in East Palestine, burning toxic chemicals for days.
Who can forget that mushroom cloud hanging heavy above Ohio, threatening neighbors in Beaver and Lawrence Counties with a terrifying uncertainty?
Three years later, Congress hasn’t passed legislation that could prevent another tragedy like this one, but senators from seven states, including Pennsylvania, on both sides of the aisle say they haven’t forgotten. They just introduced the Railway Safety Act of 2026. Senator Jon Husted, a Republican from Ohio is one of the bill’s authors. So is Senator John Fetterman.
“This is pretty reasonable,” Sen. Husted (R -OH) tells 11 Investigates. “It uses technology to improve things, it creates more notification, it prepares first responders, it also requires individuals. We have to have a human presence on these trains as more and more things get automated.”
If passed, the bill would:
-Require two crewmembers to operate a train
-Expand the list of hazardous materials requiring higher safety standards
-Require speed restrictions
-Mandate more frequent and comprehensive inspections
-Require sensors every 15 miles with automatic braking technology in case a problem is detected
“It should be about making sure industry can be successful, to make sure we can move goods and services across this country for people at the lowest possible price so we can make those products affordable, but also do it safely,” Sen. Husted added.
This bill is essentially a reintroduction of the Railway Safety Act of 2023, which was co-sponsored by then-Ohio Senator J.D. Vance and then- Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey. It did not advance.
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