DES MOINES, Iowa — Legislation seeking to limit the length of freight trains in the state of Iowa passed its first legislative hurdle Thursday, moving through a subcommittee to the state House Transportation Committee.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports a three-member subcommittee voted unanimously to advance House Study Bill 88, which would limit freight trains to 8,500 feet. A similar bill failed to advance out of committee last year [see “Rail union seeks Iowa bill …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 27, 2022].
Subcommittee member Rep. Brent Siegrist (R-Council Bluffs) supported advancing the legislation but said he is not yet sure he will support it in committee, telling the newpaper, “I want to hear more. … I have some questions, but at the same time, I’m not totally opposed to it.”
Unions have lobbied for the legislation for safety considerations. Railroads argue that the matter is one of interstate commerce, which can be regulated only by the federal government.
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