States win power to set time limits on freight train crossing blockages
H.R. 341 — Railroad Responsibility Act of 2025 · Filed by Warren Davidson (R-OH) · Introduced Jan 13, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends federal railroad law to explicitly allow states to pass their own laws limiting how long freight trains can block grade-level railroad crossings (where roads cross railroad tracks at ground level). Currently, federal law preempts most state railroad regulation; this bill carves out an exception so states can set time limits on crossing blockages without being overridden by federal authority.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a preemption carve-out—it removes federal barriers to state regulation rather than imposing new federal mandates. It restores dormant state police power over a local transportation problem.
What the text implies
- States may impose conflicting time limits on the same rail corridor, creating operational complexity for interstate freight carriers and potentially fragmenting national rail policy.
- The bill does not specify enforcement mechanisms, penalties, or dispute resolution—states will need to design their own regulatory schemes, creating uncertainty about implementation.
- Freight rail operators may face increased operational costs if states impose tight time limits, potentially raising shipping costs for consumers and businesses reliant on rail transport.
- Rural and suburban communities with significant rail traffic may see reduced crossing blockages but could also experience slower freight service or rerouting of trains to avoid strict-limit states.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens in states that choose to regulate gain the ability to address a genuine local problem—freight trains blocking crossings for hours, delaying traffic and emergency vehicles—without federal preemption. The bill does not mandate anything; it simply restores state authority to act. Citizens in states that do not regulate are unaffected.
Who stands to gain
- freight rail operators (if states impose lenient limits or weak enforcement)
- local emergency services and transportation departments (reduced crossing blockage incidents)
Named in the bill
Surface Transportation Board (STB), freight rail carriers, states and District of Columbia, grade-level rail crossings
Where it stands
- Jan 13, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jan 13, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,521,005 in lobbying spend. A filing names 39 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Warren Davidson, the sponsor, reported $281,400 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Bnsf Railway Company — $960,000 on 1 filing
- Csx Corporation — $561,005 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,115 characters) on Jun 8, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“States win power to set time limits on freight train crossing blockages” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr341 Report an error
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