Preemption is Not Dead: A Look into the Railroad Safety Act
“Safety first!” is a slogan attributed to a railroader of a bygone era. Throughout the history of rail transportation, safety always has been a concern for the industry, as well as the government. However, it was not until 1970, more than 140 years after the nation's first railroad was chartered, that Congress passed the first comprehensive railroad safety law. The Federal Railroad Safety Act (“FRSA”) establishes uniform national safety standards for railroads to abide by. In
