Mass. lawmakers file bill to regulate contract railroad crew transportation

Representative Kathleen R. LaNatra filed House bill No. 3721 on Jan. 15, 2025, proposing new state rules for vehicles that transport railroad crews in Massachusetts. Michael D. Brady is listed as a co-petitioner, added Feb. 6, 2025.

The bill would add three sections (253–255) to Chapter 160 of the General Laws and give the Rail and Transit Division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation authority to adopt regulations, investigate complaints and enforce standards for “contract crew transportation vehicles” and passenger-carrying vehicles used by railroads. It directs the Division to set driver qualifications, equipment-safety standards, hours-of-service limits, drug-testing requirements and record-retention rules.

Key provisions spelled out in the bill include minimum insurance levels, mandatory notices to employees, training requirements for drivers and a data-reporting regime. The bill would require $5,000,000 combined single-limit liability coverage for bodily injury and property damage and $1,000,000 in uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage for each contract crew transportation vehicle. It would also require that drivers complete at least four hours of Division-approved safety training covering vehicle and passenger safety, rail yard and grade-crossing safety, load securement and fatigue and distracted-driving awareness.

The measure would give the Rail and Transit Division the authority to investigate safety complaints, inspect vehicles regulated under the new sections and take enforcement action, including assessing penalties and denying, suspending or revoking a company’s ability to provide contract crew transportation after notice and an opportunity for hearing. The bill also states that the Colonel of the State Police may assist the Division in inspections upon request.

Section 254 would disqualify a person from operating a contract crew transportation vehicle for three years if, within a three-year period, the person is convicted of two traffic violations that result in suspension or revocation of a driver’s license (for reasons other than nonpayment of fines) or is found to have committed certain serious offenses such as drug- or alcohol-related traffic offenses, using a vehicle to commit a felony, leaving the scene of an accident, prohibited passing at a railroad grade crossing or driving with a suspended, revoked or canceled license. Drivers must report qualifying convictions or findings to their carrier within 10 days.

Section 255 would require the Division to compile data on reported safety complaints, accidents, regulatory violations, fines and corrective actions involving regulated vehicles and to make that data available upon request. The bill specifies that information in safety complaints that identifies the employee who submitted the complaint would not be considered a public record under the cited public-records provisions.

The text of the filing shows the bill as a petition presented to the General Court; it does not record committee referral, hearings, votes or enactment. The provisions would become enforceable only if the bill is enacted and the Rail and Transit Division adopts implementing rules as required in the bill.

Background and next steps: House bill No. 3721 was filed for the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court (2025–2026). Further action — including committee assignment, public hearings or legislative votes — is not recorded in the filing provided.