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A bill to require rail carriers to develop positive rail control system plans for improving railroad safety and to increase the civil penalties for railroad safety violations.

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Sep 16, 2008

Requires each rail carrier that is a Class I railroad, that has inadequate safety performance, or that provides intercity passenger or commuter rail passenger transportation to develop and submit for Secretary of Transportation approval by December 31, 2014, a plan to implement a positive train control system that prevents rail collisions.

Requires implementation of such systems by December 31, 2012, in areas that have the highest safety risk due to shared track between commuter and freight rail.

Prohibits installation of a positive train control system or component unless the Secretary has certified that it has not experienced a safety-critical failure during prior testing and evaluation.

Increases penalties for violations of rail safety regulations or orders issued by the Secretary, including violations related to rail accident reporting and hours-of-service.

Read the summary on Congress.gov
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Who introduced it

Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA] · D–CA

Committees

  • Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
1 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

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  1. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

  2. Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8858-8859)

  3. Introduced in Senate

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

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