In two alarming incidents, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has found the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) in non-compliance with basic railroad safety rules.

Railroad managers ordered two separate locomotive engineers to run trains without their assigned conductors in direct violation of Title 49 CFR 218.123, general train crew size safety requirements.

The first incident occurred in Elko, Nevada, on May 11, 2026, when a manager ordered a locomotive engineer to operate a train for 15 miles without a conductor in the cab.

Similarly, on June 24, a manager ordered a different locomotive engineer to operate a locomotive by himself for 12 miles near Angleton, Texas.

BLET continues to lead on rail safety and protecting the men and women who work in the operating crafts. The two-person crew safety violations were reported to FRA by BLET's Nevada State Legislative Board Chairman Emidio Gonzalez and Texas State Legislative Board Chairman Ben Wright.

The BLET thanked the FRA for investigating these incidents and enforcing this important rail safety standard. Last month, the FRA successfully defended the two-person crew rule before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.