Data / Federal rules / 2026-17786
Enhancing Railroad Discretion in Sounding Locomotive Horns at Passenger Stations
The Federal Railroad Administration published this final rule in the Federal Register on August 31, 2026. It took effect on September 30, 2026.
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What the agency says
This final rule amends safety standards related to the use of the locomotive horn to clarify that no Federal regulation requires a railroad to sound a locomotive horn because of the presence of a passenger station. The final rule clarifies that a railroad has discretion to determine policies for sounding a locomotive horn at a passenger station through railroad operating rules. The final rule also provides that if a railroad decides to sound a locomotive horn at a passenger station, the minimum sound level requirements in FRA's Railroad Locomotive Safety Standards do not apply to the sound produced by the horn.
Key facts
- Document number
- 2026-17786
- Type
- Final rule
- Action
- Final rule
- Agency
- Transportation Department; Federal Railroad Administration
- Published
- August 31, 2026
- Takes effect
- September 30, 2026
- Dates
- This rule is effective September 30, 2026.
- Docket
- Docket No. FRA-2025-0128
- Regulation ID (RIN)
- 2130-AD18
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 49 CFR 222
- Topics
- Administrative practice and procedure; Railroad safety
- Pages
- 3
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|---|---|---|
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Everything from the Federal Railroad Administration · Rules on administrative practice and procedure · Rules on railroad safety · Published in August 2026
Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.