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SF40 • 2026

A bill for an act requiring the installation and maintenance of train defect detectors on railway branch lines, and providing penalties.

A bill for an act requiring the installation and maintenance of train defect detectors on railway branch lines, and providing penalties.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
SHIPLEY
Last action
2025-01-29
Official status
Subcommittee recommends passage.
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act requiring the installation and maintenance of train defect detectors on railway branch lines, and providing penalties.

A bill for an act requiring the installation and maintenance of train defect detectors on railway branch lines, and providing penalties.

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act requiring the installation and maintenance of train defect detectors on railway branch lines, and providing penalties.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-01-29 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee recommends passage.

  2. 2025-01-27 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee Meeting: 01/29/2025 2:30PM Room 315.

  3. 2025-01-15 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee: Shipley, Gruenhagen, and Winckler. S.J. 91 .

  4. 2025-01-14 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, referred to Transportation. S.J. 69 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act requiring the installation and maintenance of train defect detectors on railway branch lines, and providing penalties.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Senate

File

40

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

40

BY

SHIPLEY

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

requiring

the

installation

and

maintenance

of

train

1

defect

detectors

on

railway

branch

lines,

and

providing

2

penalties.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

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40

Section

1.

NEW

SECTION

.

327F.6

Defect

detectors.

1

1.

A

railroad

company

shall

install

and

maintain

at

least

2

one

defect

detector

on

or

along

every

railway

branch

line

upon

3

which

the

company

operates

a

train,

and

if

the

railway

branch

4

line

is

longer

than

fifteen

miles,

the

railroad

company

shall

5

install

and

maintain

at

least

one

defect

detector

every

fifteen

6

miles.

Railroad

companies

that

operate

on

the

same

railway

7

may

jointly

share

the

costs

associated

with

installing

and

8

maintaining

defect

detectors

under

this

subsection.

9

2.

a.

A

railroad

company

that

operates

a

train

on

a

railway

10

branch

line

that

does

not

have

a

defect

detector

installed

and

11

maintained

in

accordance

with

subsection

1

is

subject

to

a

12

schedule

“five”

penalty

under

section

327C.5

for

every

mile

of

13

the

branch

line,

or

if

the

branch

line

is

longer

than

fifteen

14

miles,

for

every

mile

of

the

branch

line

that

is

more

than

15

fifteen

miles

away

from

a

defect

detector,

as

applicable.

16

b.

A

railroad

company

is

subject

to

a

schedule

“five”

17

penalty

under

section

327C.5

for

each

time

a

train

crosses

or

18

passes

by

a

defect

detector

that

fails

to

notify

the

train

crew

19

of

a

detected

defect.

20

3.

Railroad

companies

that

operate

on

the

same

railway

21

branch

line

are

jointly

and

severally

liable

in

any

suit

22

arising

from

the

installation

and

maintenance

of

all

defect

23

detectors,

or

lack

thereof,

on

or

along

the

branch

line.

24

4.

As

used

in

this

section,

“defect

detector”

means

a

25

device,

regardless

of

whether

the

device

is

integrated

into

26

the

railway,

equipped

with

sensors

that

detect

axle

and

brake

27

abnormalities

on

a

passing

train

and

alert

the

train

crew

of

28

any

detected

abnormality.

29

EXPLANATION

30

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

31

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

32

This

bill

requires

a

railroad

company

to

install

and

33

maintain

at

least

one

defect

detector,

as

defined

in

the

bill,

34

on

or

along

every

railway

branch

line

upon

which

the

company’s

35

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2

S.F.

40

trains

operate.

If

the

branch

line

is

longer

than

15

miles,

1

one

defect

detector

is

required

at

least

every

15

miles.

2

Railroad

companies

that

operate

trains

on

the

same

railway

3

may

share

such

costs

and

are

jointly

and

severally

liable

in

4

any

suit

arising

from

the

installation

and

maintenance

of

all

5

defect

detectors,

or

lack

thereof,

on

or

along

the

railway

6

branch

line.

7

A

railroad

company

that

operates

a

train

on

a

railway

branch

8

line

that

does

not

have

a

defect

detector

installed

as

required

9

under

the

bill

is

subject

to

a

schedule

“five”

penalty

under

10

Code

section

327C.5

for

every

mile

of

the

branch

line,

or

every

11

mile

that

is

more

than

15

miles

away

from

a

defect

detector,

as

12

applicable.

A

railroad

company

is

also

subject

to

a

schedule

13

“five”

penalty

for

each

time

a

train

crosses

or

passes

by

14

a

defect

detector

that

fails

to

notify

the

train

crew

of

a

15

detected

defect.

A

schedule

“five”

penalty

is

a

fine

of

not

16

less

than

$500

nor

more

than

$5,000

for

a

first

violation,

and

17

not

less

than

$5,000

nor

more

than

$10,000

for

a

subsequent

18

violation.

19

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