Railroads

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide details on how fines will be collected or enforced, leaving this as an unknown.

Railroad Crossing Safety Act

This bill sets rules for railroad companies to prevent trains from blocking primary entrances to hospitals, residential neighborhoods, or occupied residences at railroad crossings for more than 30 minutes and imposes fines if they break these rules.

What This Bill Does

• It stops railroad companies from letting trains block the primary entrance points of hospitals, residential neighborhoods, or occupied residences at railroad crossings for more than 30 consecutive minutes based on vehicle traffic counts.
• The transportation commissioner can fine railroad companies up to $1,000 per violation after providing notice and opportunity for a hearing.
• If a company breaks the rule again within 18 months from the first occurrence, they could be fined up to $3,000.
• Money from fines must be allocated: 15% retained by the department of transportation for administrative costs; 85% distributed to local areas for railroad crossing projects.

Who It Names or Affects

• Railroad companies controlling train movements
• People living in neighborhoods or homes with primary entrances blocked by railroads
• Hospitals relying on unblocked access points for emergency vehicles

Terms To Know

railroad crossing

A place where a road crosses over or under train tracks.

civil penalty

Money that someone has to pay as punishment for breaking a rule.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill only applies to violations occurring on or after July 1, 2026.
• It does not specify how the fines will be collected or enforced.

Official Summary Text

This bill prohibits

a
railroad company controlling the movement of a railroad train, car, engine, or other equipment
from
permit
ting
the train, car, engine, or other equipment to obstruct or cause the obstruction of a railroad crossing for a period in excess of 30 consecutive minutes if the railroad crossing provides the primary ingress and egress to and from a hospital, residential n
eighborhood, or occupied residence based on vehicle traffic counts.

PENALTIES

This bill authorizes

t
he commissioner of transportation, after providing notice and opportunity for a hearing,
to
impose a civil penalty of $1,000 per violation against the railroad company.

If a second or subsequent violation occurs at the same railroad crossing a second or subsequent time within
18
months from the date of the first occurrence,
then
the commissioner may impose, after providing notice and opportunity for a hearing, a civil penalty up to $3,000 upon the railroad company.

This bill requires all
civil penalties collected by the commissioner pursuant to this
bill to
be allocated as follows:



15% must be retained by the department of transportation for costs of administration
of this bill.


85% must be distributed to the county or municipality in which the violation occurred and used solely for railroad crossing projects on county roads or municipal streets within the county or municipality, as applicable.

This bill clarifies that a
railroad company is not immune from any civil liability that may be imposed or incurred for bodily injury to, or the death of, a person as a result of the person being transported in an ambulance or other emergency services vehicle that is blocked or obst
ructed at a railroad crossing in violation of
this bill.

APPLICABILITY

This bill applies to
violations occurring on or after July 1, 2026
.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 2625
By Campbell

HOUSE BILL 1830
By Mitchell
HB1830
011148
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39;
Title 40; Title 54 and Title 65, relative to railroads.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 65, Chapter 11, Part 1, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) As used in this section, "railroad crossing" means any location where a public
street or highway is crossed by, or intersects with, a railroad track or line.
(b) A railroad company controlling the movement of a railroad train, car, engine,
or other equipment shall not permit the train, car, engine, or other equipment to obstruct
or cause the obstruction of a railroad crossing for a period in excess of thirty (30)
consecutive minutes if the railroad crossing provides the primary ingress and egress to
and from a hospital, residential neighborhood, or occupied residence based on vehicle
traffic counts.
(c)
(1) The commissioner of transportation may, after providing notice and
opportunity for a hearing under the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act,
compiled in title 4, chapter 5, impose a civil penalty of one thousand dollars
($1,000) per violation against the railroad company.
(2) If a second or subsequent violation of subsection (b) occurs at the
same railroad crossing a second or subsequent time within eighteen (18) months
from the date of the first occurrence, the commissioner may impose, after
providing notice and opportunity for a hearing under the Uniform Administrative

- 2 - 011148

Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, a civil penalty up to three thousand
dollars ($3,000) upon the railroad company.
(d) All civil penalties collected by the commissioner pursuant to this section must
be allocated as follows:
(1) Fifteen percent (15%) must be retained by the department of
transportation for costs of administration of this section; and
(2) Eighty-five percent (85%) must be distributed to the county or
municipality in which the violation of subsection (b) occurred and used solely for
railroad crossing projects on county roads or municipal streets within the county
or municipality, as applicable.
(e) A railroad company is not immune from any civil liability that may be imposed
or incurred for bodily injury to, or the death of, a person as a result of the person being
transported in an ambulance or other emergency services vehicle that is blocked or
obstructed at a railroad crossing in violation of subsection (b).
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it, and
applies to violations occurring on or after that date.