(The Center Square) – One Ohio congressman plans to start the new Congress where he left off during the last one – pushing for more railroad safety.
Republican U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson again introduced the Railroad Responsibility Act of 2025, which would end railroad crossing blockages by allowing states to enforce penalties for blocking roadways.
“The Railroad Responsibility Act gives power back to the states to regulate blocked rail crossings,” Davidson said. The federal government must stop preventing states from enforcing common-sense laws that penalize railways for blocking crossings.”
Davidson originally introduced the bill in August, but it failed to move before the end of the congressional session.
Ohio has had some sort of law against blocked railroad crossings since 1853. In 1999, it passed an anti-blocking law that said nonmoving trains cannot block a cross for more than five minutes. It also said that once a train is moved, the crossing has to remain clear for three minutes.
The law does not apply to trains that are moving or those stopped by circumstances out of the railroad company’s control.
In 2022, however, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled federal law stopped the enforcement of that statute.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Ohio ranked second in the country in crossing blockages in 2022 with 3,575. Only Texas had more, with 6,508. Illinois was third, followed by Indiana and Tennessee.
In contrast, Ohio is fifth among states receiving the most rail freight yearly. Texas is first, followed by Illinois, California and Minnesota.
