WASHINGTON — Two U.S. senators have introduced a bill that would extend to passenger train crew members the same legal protections that exist for airline flight crews and attendants.
U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.) on Thursday, Jan. 15, introduced the “Passenger Rail Crew Protection Act.” It would carry penalties of up to eight years in prison for assault or intimidate a crew member, or conspire to do so. The maximum penalty increases to 20 years if the act involves a dangerous weapon.
In announcing the bill, Duckworth referenced Amtrak conductor Michael Case, shot by a passenger on a train in Naperville, Ill., in 2017. Duckworth introduced a similar bill in 2018, a year after Case was shot, when he was still recovering from the incident.
“No one in America should experience what my constituent Michael Case endured when he was shot and critically injured simply for performing his job as an Amtrak conductor,” Duckworth said in a press release. “Congress rightfully recognized decades ago that flight crew members deserved uniform legal protections against assault and intimidation, and it’s past time we grant our passenger rail crew members with the same legal protections that apply to flight crews.”
Said Hoeven, “Anyone who assaults a crew member or interferes with travel, whether by rail or in the air, should be held to the same standard. This bipartisan legislation will provide the same protections for rail crews that currently exist for airline crew to ensure that’s the case. In addition to crewmember safety, this effort will also better ensure the safety of those traveling by rail.”
Supporters of the bill include the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, SMART-TD union, Transport Workers Union, Transport Communications Union/International Association of Machinists, and the Association of American Railroads.
“For far too long, our members have gone to work knowing there was a distinct possibility they were going to be assaulted during their workday. It has begun to be treated as if it were just ‘part of the job,’” said SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson. “That is unacceptable. This legislation sends a powerful and overdue message: an attack on a passenger rail worker is a serious federal crime, and it will be treated as such.”
The full text of the bill is available here.
— Updated at 9:45 a.m. CT with comment from SMART-TD. To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
They’re not interstate operators. In my state there is special state charges for those who assault transit workers.
Are there provisions for tourist and heritage lines and their volunteers?