RAIL CROSSING NEAR SCHOOLS

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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB4543

Introduced 1/30/2026, by Rep. Nabeela Syed

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

625 ILCS 5/18c-7401

from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 18c-7401

Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Requires every rail carrier
operating within the State to install, operate, and maintain pedestrian
crossing gates at every grade crossing located within 1.5 miles of a
school. Provides that the Illinois Commerce Commission shall have the
authority to (i) determine the number, type, and location of the signs,
signals, gates, or other protective devices and (ii) prescribe the
division of the cost of the installation and subsequent maintenance of the
signs, signals, gates, or other protective devices between the rail
carrier or carriers, the public highway authority or other public
authority in interest, and, in instances involving the use of the Grade
Crossing Protection Fund, the Department of Transportation.
LRB104 15931 LNS 29166 b

A BILL FOR

HB4543
LRB104 15931 LNS 29166 b
1

AN ACT concerning transportation.

2

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3
represented in the General Assembly:

4

Section 5.
The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by
5
changing Section 18c-7401 as follows:

6

(625 ILCS 5/18c-7401)

(from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 18c-7401)
7

Sec. 18c-7401.
Safety requirements for track, facilities,
8
and equipment.
9

(1) General Requirements. Each rail carrier shall,
10
consistent with rules, orders, and regulations of the Federal
11
Railroad Administration, construct, maintain, and operate all
12
of its equipment, track, and other property in this State in
13
such a manner as to pose no undue risk to its employees or the
14
person or property of any member of the public.
15

(2) Adoption of Federal Standards. The track safety
16
standards and accident/incident standards promulgated by the
17
Federal Railroad Administration shall be safety standards of
18
the Commission. The Commission may, in addition, adopt by
19
reference in its regulations other federal railroad safety
20
standards, whether contained in federal statutes or in
21
regulations adopted pursuant to such statutes.
22

(3) Railroad Crossings. No public road, highway, or street
23
shall hereafter be constructed across the track of any rail

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carrier at grade, nor shall the track of any rail carrier be
2
constructed across a public road, highway or street at grade,
3
without having first secured the permission of the Commission;
4
provided, that this Section shall not apply to the replacement
5
of lawfully existing roads, highways, and tracks. No public
6
pedestrian bridge or subway shall be constructed across the
7
track of any rail carrier without having first secured the
8
permission of the Commission. The Commission shall have the
9
right to refuse its permission or to grant it upon such terms
10
and conditions as it may prescribe. The Commission shall have
11
power to determine and prescribe the manner, including the
12
particular point of crossing, and the terms of installation,
13
operation, maintenance, use, and protection of each such
14
crossing.
15

The Commission shall also have power, after a hearing, to
16
require major alteration of or to abolish any crossing,
17
heretofore or hereafter established, when in its opinion, the
18
public safety requires such alteration or abolition, and,
19
except in cities, villages, and incorporated towns of
20
1,000,000 or more inhabitants, to vacate and close that part
21
of the highway on such crossing altered or abolished and cause
22
barricades to be erected across such highway in such manner as
23
to prevent the use of such crossing as a highway, when, in the
24
opinion of the Commission, the public convenience served by
25
the crossing in question is not such as to justify the further
26
retention thereof; or to require a separation of grades, at

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railroad-highway grade crossings; or to require a separation
2
of grades at any proposed crossing where a proposed public
3
highway may cross the tracks of any rail carrier or carriers;
4
and to prescribe, after a hearing of the parties, the terms
5
upon which such separations shall be made and the proportion
6
in which the expense of the alteration or abolition of such
7
crossings or the separation of such grades, having regard to
8
the benefits, if any, accruing to the rail carrier or any party
9
in interest, shall be divided between the rail carrier or
10
carriers affected, or between such carrier or carriers and the
11
State, county, municipality or other public authority in
12
interest. However, a public hearing by the Commission to
13
abolish a crossing shall not be required when the public
14
highway authority in interest vacates the highway. In such
15
instance the rail carrier, following notification to the
16
Commission and the highway authority, shall remove any grade
17
crossing warning devices and the grade crossing surface.
18

The Commission shall also have power by its order to
19
require the reconstruction, minor alteration, minor
20
relocation, or improvement of any crossing (including the
21
necessary highway approaches thereto) of any railroad across
22
any highway or public road, pedestrian bridge, or pedestrian
23
subway, whether such crossing be at grade or by overhead
24
structure or by subway, whenever the Commission finds after a
25
hearing or without a hearing as otherwise provided in this
26
paragraph that such reconstruction, alteration, relocation, or

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improvement is necessary to preserve or promote the safety or
2
convenience of the public or of the employees or passengers of
3
such rail carrier or carriers. By its original order or
4
supplemental orders in such case, the Commission may direct
5
such reconstruction, alteration, relocation, or improvement to
6
be made in such manner and upon such terms and conditions as
7
may be reasonable and necessary and may apportion the cost of
8
such reconstruction, alteration, relocation, or improvement
9
and the subsequent maintenance thereof, having regard to the
10
benefits, if any, accruing to the railroad or any party in
11
interest, between the rail carrier or carriers and public
12
utilities affected, or between such carrier or carriers and
13
public utilities and the State, county, municipality or other
14
public authority in interest. The cost to be so apportioned
15
shall include the cost of changes or alterations in the
16
equipment of public utilities affected as well as the cost of
17
the relocation, diversion or establishment of any public
18
highway, made necessary by such reconstruction, alteration,
19
relocation, or improvement of said crossing. A hearing shall
20
not be required in those instances when the Commission enters
21
an order confirming a written stipulation in which the
22
Commission, the public highway authority or other public
23
authority in interest, the rail carrier or carriers affected,
24
and in instances involving the use of the Grade Crossing
25
Protection Fund, the Illinois Department of Transportation,
26
agree on the reconstruction, alteration, relocation, or

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improvement and the subsequent maintenance thereof and the
2
division of costs of such changes of any grade crossing
3
(including the necessary highway approaches thereto) of any
4
railroad across any highway, pedestrian bridge, or pedestrian
5
subway.
6

The Commission shall also have power to enter into
7
stipulated agreements with a rail carrier or rail carriers or
8
public authorities to fund, provide, install, and maintain
9
safety treatments to deter trespassing on railroad property in
10
accordance with paragraph (1) of Section 18c-7503 at locations
11
approved by such rail carrier or rail carriers following a
12
diagnostic evaluation between the Commission and the rail
13
carrier or rail carriers, including any public authority in
14
interest or the Federal Railroad Administration, and to order
15
the allocation of the cost of those treatments and their
16
installation and maintenance from the Grade Crossing
17
Protection Fund. Safety treatments approved under this
18
paragraph by the Commission shall be deemed adequate and
19
appropriate.
20

Every rail carrier operating in the State of Illinois
21
shall construct and maintain every highway crossing over its
22
tracks within the State so that the roadway at the
23
intersection shall be as flush with the rails as superelevated
24
curves will allow, and, unless otherwise ordered by the
25
Commission, shall construct and maintain the approaches
26
thereto at a grade of not more than 5% within the right of way

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for a distance of not less the 6 feet on each side of the
2
centerline of such tracks; provided, that the grades at the
3
approaches may be maintained in excess of 5% only when
4
authorized by the Commission.
5

Every rail carrier operating within this State shall
6
remove from its right of way at all railroad-highway grade
7
crossings within the State, such brush, shrubbery, and trees
8
as is reasonably practical for a distance of not less than 500
9
feet in either direction from each grade crossing. The
10
Commission shall have power, upon its own motion, or upon
11
complaint, and after having made proper investigation, to
12
require the installation of adequate and appropriate luminous
13
reflective warning signs, luminous flashing signals, crossing
14
gates illuminated at night, or other protective devices in
15
order to promote and safeguard the health and safety of the
16
public. Luminous flashing signal or crossing gate devices
17
installed at grade crossings, which have been approved by the
18
Commission, shall be deemed adequate and appropriate. The
19
Commission shall have authority to determine the number, type,
20
and location of such signs, signals, gates, or other
21
protective devices which, however, shall conform as near as
22
may be with generally recognized national standards, and the
23
Commission shall have authority to prescribe the division of
24
the cost of the installation and subsequent maintenance of
25
such signs, signals, gates, or other protective devices
26
between the rail carrier or carriers, the public highway

HB4543
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LRB104 15931 LNS 29166 b
1
authority or other public authority in interest, and in
2
instances involving the use of the Grade Crossing Protection
3
Fund, the Illinois Department of Transportation. Except where
4
train crews provide flagging of the crossing to road users,
5
yield signs shall be installed at all highway intersections
6
with every grade crossing in this State that is not equipped
7
with automatic warning devices, such as luminous flashing
8
signals or crossing gate devices. A stop sign may be used in
9
lieu of the yield sign when an engineering study conducted in
10
cooperation with the highway authority and the Illinois
11
Department of Transportation has determined that a stop sign
12
is warranted. If the Commission has ordered the installation
13
of luminous flashing signal or crossing gate devices at a
14
grade crossing not equipped with active warning devices, the
15
Commission shall order the installation of temporary stop
16
signs at the highway intersection with the grade crossing
17
unless an engineering study has determined that a stop sign is
18
not appropriate. If a stop sign is not appropriate, the
19
Commission may order the installation of other appropriate
20
supplemental signing as determined by an engineering study.
21
The temporary signs shall remain in place until the luminous
22
flashing signal or crossing gate devices have been installed.
23
The rail carrier is responsible for the installation and
24
subsequent maintenance of any required signs. The permanent
25
signs shall be in place by July 1, 2011.
26

No railroad may change or modify the warning device system

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1
at a railroad-highway grade crossing, including warning
2
systems interconnected with highway traffic control signals,
3
without having first received the approval of the Commission.
4
The Commission shall have the further power, upon application,
5
upon its own motion, or upon complaint and after having made
6
proper investigation, to require the interconnection of grade
7
crossing warning devices with traffic control signals at
8
highway intersections located at or near railroad crossings
9
within the distances described by the State Manual on Uniform
10
Traffic Control Devices adopted pursuant to Section 11-301 of
11
this Code. In addition, State and local authorities may not
12
install, remove, modernize, or otherwise modify traffic
13
control signals at a highway intersection that is
14
interconnected or proposed to be interconnected with grade
15
crossing warning devices when the change affects the number,
16
type, or location of traffic control devices on the track
17
approach leg or legs of the intersection or the timing of the
18
railroad preemption sequence of operation until the Commission
19
has approved the installation, removal, modernization, or
20
modification. Commission approval shall be limited to
21
consideration of issues directly affecting the public safety
22
at the railroad-highway grade crossing. The electrical circuit
23
devices, alternate warning devices, and preemption sequences
24
shall conform as nearly as possible, considering the
25
particular characteristics of the crossing and intersection
26
area, to the State manual adopted by the Illinois Department

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1
of Transportation pursuant to Section 11-301 of this Code and
2
such federal standards as are made applicable by subsection
3
(2) of this Section. In order to carry out this authority, the
4
Commission shall have the authority to determine the number,
5
type, and location of traffic control devices on the track
6
approach leg or legs of the intersection and the timing of the
7
railroad preemption sequence of operation. The Commission
8
shall prescribe the division of costs for installation and
9
maintenance of all devices required by this paragraph between
10
the railroad or railroads and the highway authority in
11
interest and in instances involving the use of the Grade
12
Crossing Protection Fund or a State highway, the Illinois
13
Department of Transportation.
14

Any person who unlawfully or maliciously removes, throws
15
down, damages or defaces any sign, signal, gate, or other
16
protective device, located at or near any public grade
17
crossing, shall be guilty of a petty offense and fined not less
18
than $50 nor more than $200 for each offense. In addition to
19
fines levied under the provisions of this Section a person
20
adjudged guilty hereunder may also be directed to make
21
restitution for the costs of repair or replacement, or both,
22
necessitated by his misconduct.
23

It is the public policy of the State of Illinois to enhance
24
public safety by establishing safe grade crossings. In order
25
to implement this policy, the Illinois Commerce Commission is
26
directed to conduct public hearings and to adopt specific

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LRB104 15931 LNS 29166 b
1
criteria by July 1, 1994, that shall be adhered to by the
2
Illinois Commerce Commission in determining if a grade
3
crossing should be opened or abolished. The following factors
4
shall be considered by the Illinois Commerce Commission in
5
developing the specific criteria for opening and abolishing
6
grade crossings:
7

(a) timetable speed of passenger trains;
8

(b) distance to an alternate crossing;
9

(c) accident history for the last 5 years;
10

(d) number of vehicular traffic and posted speed
11

limits;
12

(e) number of freight trains and their timetable
13

speeds;
14

(f) the type of warning device present at the grade
15

crossing;
16

(g) alignments of the roadway and railroad, and the
17

angle of intersection of those alignments;
18

(h) use of the grade crossing by trucks carrying
19

hazardous materials, vehicles carrying passengers for
20

hire, and school buses; and
21

(i) use of the grade crossing by emergency vehicles.
22

The Illinois Commerce Commission, upon petition to open or
23
abolish a grade crossing, shall enter an order opening or
24
abolishing the crossing if it meets the specific criteria
25
adopted by the Commission.
26

Except as otherwise provided in this subsection (3), in no

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1
instance shall a grade crossing be permanently closed without
2
public hearing first being held and notice of such hearing
3
being published in an area newspaper of local general
4
circulation.
5

(4) Freight Trains; Radio Communications. The Commission
6
shall after hearing and order require that every main line
7
railroad freight train operating on main tracks outside of
8
yard limits within this State shall be equipped with a radio
9
communication system. The Commission after notice and hearing
10
may grant exemptions from the requirements of this Section as
11
to secondary and branch lines.
12

(5) Railroad Bridges and Trestles; Walkway and Handrail.
13
In cases in which the Commission finds the same to be practical
14
and necessary for safety of railroad employees, bridges and
15
trestles, over and upon which railroad trains are operated,
16
shall include as a part thereof, a safe and suitable walkway
17
and handrail on one side only of such bridge or trestle, and
18
such handrail shall be located at the outer edge of the walkway
19
and shall provide a clearance of not less than 8 feet, 6
20
inches, from the center line of the nearest track, measured at
21
right angles thereto.
22

(6) Packages Containing Articles for First Aid to Injured
23
on Trains.
24

(a) All rail carriers shall provide a first aid kit
25

that contains, at a minimum, those articles prescribed by
26

the Commission, on each train or engine, for first aid to

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1

persons who may be injured in the course of the operation
2

of such trains.
3

(b) A vehicle, excluding a taxi cab used in an
4

emergency situation, operated by a contract carrier
5

transporting railroad employees in the course of their
6

employment shall be equipped with a readily available
7

first aid kit that contains, as a minimum, the same
8

articles that are required on each train or engine.
9

(7) Abandoned Bridges, Crossings, and Other Rail Plant.
10
The Commission shall have authority, after notice and hearing,
11
to order:
12

(a) the removal of any abandoned railroad tracks from
13

roads, streets or other thoroughfares in this State; and
14

(b) the removal of abandoned overhead railroad
15

structures crossing highways, waterways, or railroads.
16

The Commission may equitably apportion the cost of such
17
actions between the rail carrier or carriers, public
18
utilities, and the State, county, municipality, township, road
19
district, or other public authority in interest.
20

(8) Railroad-Highway Bridge Clearance. A vertical
21
clearance of not less than 23 feet above the top of rail shall
22
be provided for all new or reconstructed highway bridges
23
constructed over a railroad track. The Commission may permit a
24
lesser clearance if it determines that the 23-foot clearance
25
standard cannot be justified based on engineering,
26
operational, and economic conditions.

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LRB104 15931 LNS 29166 b
1

(9) Right of Access To Railroad Property.
2

(a) A community antenna television company franchised
3

by a municipality or county pursuant to the Illinois
4

Municipal Code or the Counties Code, respectively, shall
5

not enter upon any real estate or rights-of-way in the
6

possession or control of a railroad subject to the
7

jurisdiction of the Illinois Commerce Commission unless
8

the community antenna television company first complies
9

with the applicable provisions of subparagraph (f) of
10

Section 11-42-11.1 of the Illinois Municipal Code or
11

subparagraph (f) of Section 5-1096 of the Counties Code.
12

(b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the
13

contrary, this subsection (9) applies to all entries of
14

railroad rights-of-way involving a railroad subject to the
15

jurisdiction of the Illinois Commerce Commission by a
16

community antenna television company and shall govern in
17

the event of any conflict with any other provision of law.
18

(c) This subsection (9) applies to any entry upon any
19

real estate or right-of-way in the possession or control
20

of a railroad subject to the jurisdiction of the Illinois
21

Commerce Commission for the purpose of or in connection
22

with the construction, or installation of a community
23

antenna television company's system or facilities
24

commenced or renewed on or after August 22, 2017 (the
25

effective date of Public Act 100-251).
26

(d) Nothing in Public Act 100-251 shall be construed

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LRB104 15931 LNS 29166 b
1

to prevent a railroad from negotiating other terms and
2

conditions or the resolution of any dispute in relation to
3

an entry upon or right of access as set forth in this
4

subsection (9).
5

(e) For purposes of this subsection (9):
6

"Broadband service", "cable operator", and "holder"
7

have the meanings given to those terms under Section
8

21-201 of the Public Utilities Act.
9

"Community antenna television company" includes, in
10

the case of real estate or rights-of-way in possession of
11

or in control of a railroad, a holder, cable operator, or
12

broadband service provider.
13

(f) Beginning on August 22, 2017 (the effective date
14

of Public Act 100-251), the Transportation Division of the
15

Illinois Commerce Commission shall include in its annual
16

Crossing Safety Improvement Program report a brief
17

description of the number of cases decided by the Illinois
18

Commerce Commission and the number of cases that remain
19

pending before the Illinois Commerce Commission under this
20

subsection (9) for the period covered by the report.
21

(10) Railroad Crossings Near Schools. Every rail carrier
22
operating within this State shall, in addition to the other
23
requirements of this Article, install, operate, and maintain
24
pedestrian crossing gates at every grade crossing located
25
within 1.5 miles of a school. The Illinois Commerce Commission
26
shall have the authority to determine the number, type, and

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LRB104 15931 LNS 29166 b
1
location of the signs, signals, gates, or other protective
2
devices, which shall conform as much as possible with
3
generally recognized national standards. The Illinois Commerce
4
Commission shall have the authority to prescribe the division
5
of the cost of the installation and subsequent maintenance of
6
the signs, signals, gates, or other protective devices between
7
the rail carrier or carriers, the public highway authority or
8
other public authority in interest, and, in instances
9
involving the use of the Grade Crossing Protection Fund, the
10
Department of Transportation.

11
(Source: P.A. 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 102-16, eff. 6-17-21.)

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