Committee receives overview of Class 1 freight railroads, safety rules and rising cargo theft in Tennessee

The House Transportation Committee received a briefing on March 4, 2025, from the Tennessee Railroad Association on Class 1 freight railroads operating in Tennessee, including safety, regulatory oversight, and operational factors that affect train movement and communities.

Tasha Alexander, executive director of the Tennessee Railroad Association, presented an overview and introduced representatives from four Class 1 freight railroads operating in Tennessee: Michael Garriga (BNSF Railway), Jane Covington (CSX Transportation), Elizabeth Kennedy Lawler (Norfolk Southern) and Antoine Hawkins (CN). Alexander said Tennessee hosts five Class 1 railroads and that Class 1 carriers operate more than 2,000 miles of track in the state. She noted Memphis is a major national gateway, second only to Chicago in rail traffic.

The presentation outlined federal regulatory agencies with railroad safety and economic oversight: the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the Surface Transportation Board (STB), the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Alexander said about 70 percent of passenger rail travels on Class 1-owned track and emphasized that Class 1 companies are privately responsible for maintaining infrastructure; she stated that, by one estimate, class‑1 railroads invest roughly $23 billion annually in maintenance nationwide and reinvest about 39 cents of every revenue dollar into infrastructure.

Alexander told members that trains stop for many reasons — single-track bottlenecks that require sidings to pass, crew scheduling and hours-of-service rules, mechanical failures detected by wayside detectors, track inspections, and PTC (positive train control) alerts. "If one of our trains is stopped, that means that it is not doing what it's supposed to be doing on the network," Alexander said, adding that stops are not typically intended to inconvenience communities.

On grade-crossing safety, Alexander said the state's Department of Transportation determines safety devices at public crossings and administers federal Section 130 funds (FHWA) to support crossing improvements. She explained that train horns are required by federal rule at public crossings unless a community applies for and establishes a quiet zone through the FRA; the application must come from a governmental agency and typically requires supplemental safety measures.

Committee members pressed witnesses on a sharp rise in cargo theft. Alexander described cargo theft as "increasing exponentially" and said it involves highly organized criminal operations targeting intermodal containers and other finished goods. Jane Covington referenced a federal trade association report saying train thefts were up about 40 percent year‑over‑year. Elizabeth Kennedy Lawler of Norfolk Southern said the industry treats incidents seriously and works with federal and state partners to find root causes and improve safety.

Members asked technical questions about dispatching (each railroad has its own dispatch center), wayside detection systems that sense hot bearings and other mechanical issues, and how class‑one and short‑line operations interconnect. Representatives and presenters encouraged legislators to direct constituents with safety or crossing complaints to the railroads' published emergency contact information and to coordinate with TDOT for crossing improvements.

No formal committee action was taken on policy changes during the briefing. Presenters invited members to continue discussion at an informal session later in the day.