Pennsylvania Railroad Safety Bill - Blocking Crossings and Train Length Limits
Summary
Pennsylvania House Bill 1191 proposes comprehensive railroad safety reforms including prohibition on blocking public grade crossings, limits on freight and work train lengths, safe staffing requirements, wayside detector systems, and hazardous materials transportation reporting. The bill is sponsored by 28 Democrats and 1 other legislator. Penalties for violations are specified in the bill.
What changed
HB1191 amends Title 66 (Public Utilities) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes to prohibit railroads from blocking public grade crossings and impose maximum length limitations on freight and work trains. The bill also requires safe staffing levels for trains and light engines, mandates wayside detector systems, establishes a reporting system for hazardous materials transportation, and requires hazard impact assessments. Collective bargaining representatives are authorized to monitor safety practices and operations.
Railroads operating in Pennsylvania should monitor HB1191 as it progresses through the Senate Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure Committee. The bill is currently in draft stage and subject to amendment. Once enacted, railroads would need to comply with new operational restrictions including crossing clearance requirements, train length caps, and enhanced safety reporting obligations. The bill imposes penalties for violations of these provisions.
What to do next
- Monitor HB1191 progress through Pennsylvania Senate committees
- Review current railroad operations for crossing blockage and train length practices
- Assess hazardous materials transportation reporting systems for compliance readiness
Penalties
Penalties for violations are specified in the bill
Source document (simplified)
PA HB1191 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session
Pennsylvania House Bill 1191
PA State Legislature page for HB1191
- Summary
- Sponsors
- Texts
- Votes
- Research
- Comments
- Track
Status
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 28-1)
Status: Engrossed on March 25 2026 - 50% progression
Action: 2026-03-30 - Referred to Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure
Pending: Senate Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Amended) [PDF]
Summary
An Act amending Title 66 (Public Utilities) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in railroads, providing for prohibition on blocking of crossings, for limitation on length of freight or work trains, for authorization to monitor safety practices and operations by collective bargaining representatives, for safe staffing levels for trains or light engines, for wayside detector systems, for study of transportation of hazardous materials or waste, for reporting system for transportation of hazardous materials or waste and for hazard impact assessment; and imposing penalties.
Tracking Information Register now for our free OneVote public service or GAITS Pro trial account and you can begin tracking this and other legislation, all driven by the real-time data of the LegiScan API. Providing tools allowing you to research pending legislation, stay informed with email alerts, content feeds, and share dynamic reports. Use our new PolitiCorps to join with friends and collegaues to monitor & discuss bills through the process.
Monitor Legislation or view this same bill number from multiple sessions or take advantage of our national legislative search.
Title
In railroads, providing for prohibition on blocking of crossings, for limitation on length of freight or work trains, for authorization to monitor safety practices and operations by collective bargaining representatives, for safe staffing levels for trains or light engines, for wayside detector systems, for study of transportation of hazardous materials or waste, for reporting system for transportation of hazardous materials or waste and for hazard impact assessment; and imposing penalties.
Sponsors
| Rep. Robert Matzie [D] | Rep. Danilo Burgos [D] | Rep. Mandy Steele [D] | Rep. Daniel Deasy [D] |
| Rep. Carol Hill-Evans [D] | Rep. Maureen Madden [D] | Rep. Jose Giral [D] | Rep. Jeanne McNeill [D] |
| Rep. Christopher Pielli [D] | Rep. Robert Freeman [D] | Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta [D] | Rep. Arvind Venkat [D] |
| Rep. Ben Sanchez [D] | Rep. James Haddock [D] | Rep. Steven Malagari [D] | Rep. Nikki Rivera [D] |
| Rep. Kyle Donahue [D] | Rep. Nathan Davidson [D] | Rep. Joseph Ciresi [D] | Rep. Perry Warren [D] |
| Rep. Michael Schlossberg [D] | Rep. Louis Schmitt [R] | Rep. John Inglis [D] | Rep. James Prokopiak [D] |
| Rep. Brandon Markosek [D] | Rep. Roni Green [D] | Rep. Tarik Khan [D] | Rep. Timothy Briggs [D] |
| Rep. Justin Fleming [D] | | | |
Roll Calls
2026-03-25 - House - House Floor: PN3068, FINAL PASSAGE (Y: 120 N: 79 NV: 0 Abs: 1) [PASS]
2026-03-25 - House - House Appropriations: PN1340, Re-report Bill As Committed (Y: 22 N: 15 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]
2026-03-24 - House - House Floor: PN1340 A02511 (Y: 196 N: 3 NV: 0 Abs: 1) [PASS]
2025-12-16 - House - House Consumer Protection, Technology & Utilities: PN1340, Report Bill As Committed (Y: 23 N: 3 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]
History
| Date | Chamber | Action |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-30 | Senate | Referred to Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure |
| 2026-03-25 | Senate | In the Senate |
| 2026-03-25 | House | Third consideration and final passage (120-79) |
| 2026-03-25 | House | Re-reported as committed |
| 2026-03-24 | House | Re-committed to Appropriations |
| 2026-03-24 | House | Second consideration, with amendments |
| 2026-03-23 | House | Removed from table |
| 2025-12-16 | House | Laid on the table |
| 2025-12-16 | House | First consideration |
| 2025-12-16 | House | Reported as committed |
| 2025-04-15 | House | Referred to Consumer Protection, Technology & Utilities |
Pennsylvania State Sources
| Type | Source |
| --- | --- |
| Summary | https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/2025/hb1191 |
| Text | https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/text/PDF/2025/0/HB1191/PN1340 |
| Text | https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/text/PDF/2025/0/HB1191/PN3068 |
| Amendment | https://www.palegis.us/legislation/amendments/text/2025/0/A02511 |
| Roll Call | https://www.palegis.us/house/committees/roll-call-votes/vote-list/vote-summary?committeecode=63&rollcallid=1529&sessYr=2025&sessInd=0 |
| Roll Call | https://www.palegis.us/house/roll-calls/summary?sessYr=2025&sessInd=0&rcNum=873 |
| Roll Call | https://www.palegis.us/house/committees/roll-call-votes/vote-list/vote-summary?committeecode=62&rollcallid=1850&sessYr=2025&sessInd=0 |
| Roll Call | https://www.palegis.us/house/roll-calls/summary?sessYr=2025&sessInd=0&rcNum=891 |
LegiScan Search
State: Select area of search. Bill Number: Find an exact bill number. Full Text Search: Search bill text and data. [help ] Reset
LegiScan Info
- 2026 Schedules
- Price List
- Weekly Datasets
- Search Help
- Voter Registration
LegiScan Trends
NH HB1337 Repealing the New Hampshire council on autism spectrum disorders. ME LD1942 An Act to Modify Taxes Applying to Adult Use Cannabis, Hemp and Hemp P... NY A10711 Requires the administration of certain vaccines for children in accordance... NH HB1766 Relative to cruelty to livestock. AZ SB1445 Water quality; testing; on-site TN HB2420 AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, relative to virtual... LA SB158 Provides relative to Medicaid. (8/1/26) LA SB262 Provides relative to administration of transfer on death accounts. (8/... CA SB1289 Hazardous waste contingency plans. HI SCR52 Requesting The Department Of Education To Require One Year Of Hawaiian... LegiScan LLC is an impartial and nonpartisan legislative tracking, reporting and data service utilizing LegiScan GAITS and LegiScan API
Contact Us · Terms · Privacy · 800-618-2750
Named provisions
Related changes
Source
Classification
Who this affects
Taxonomy
Browse Categories
Get Government & Legislation alerts
Weekly digest. AI-summarized, no noise.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
Get alerts for this source
We'll email you when LegiScan Pennsylvania publishes new changes.