(Congressman Gene Green issued the following news release on June 13.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Gene Green announced today the introduction of H.R. 2843, which would ban the transportation of hazardous material by trains conducted via remote control. Remote control trains are a relatively new technology that is still being studied by the Federal Railroad Association (FRA) in order to verify their safety. Studies released by the FRA have shown that this new technology has problems.
“Hazardous materials present very high safety and security risks,” said Congressman Green. “We cannot rely on an unproven, questionable new transportation technology to transport this material through our backyards.”
“All federal investigations have raised serious concerns with remote control safety,” continued Congressman Green. “This bill is needed because hazardous materials have the highest safety and security risks, so they should be banned from remote control trains until proven safe.”
Congressman Green also released copies of letters he has sent to Union Pacific and BNSF railroads urging them to restrict remote control operations to their rail yards. A recent Federal Railroad Administration report raised questions about remote control rail safety.