Regulatory Relief From Locomotive Horn Sounding Pattern at Public Highway-Rail Grade Crossings

What it does

This final rule amends safety standards related to use of the locomotive horn to provide regulatory relief from the required pattern of sounding the locomotive horn in two long blasts, one short blast, and one long blast for locomotive engineers operating trains, locomotive consists, or individual locomotives that have stopped in close proximity to a public highway-rail grade crossing. This final rule allows locomotive engineers to vary the locomotive horn sounding pattern to one single blast of the horn as they enter the nearby public highway-rail grade crossing.

The Federal Railroad Administration's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

1 part of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

49 CFR 222

Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).

Compared with

The Federal Railroad Administration has published 23 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 37 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

Before this

1 earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 2130-AD39 since Jan. 1, 2025.

• July 1, 2025 Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). Regulatory Relief From Locomotive Horn Sounding Pattern at Public Highway-Rail Grade Crossings

What happens next and when

This rule is effective September 30, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket FRA-2025-0121 on Regulations.gov
• Title 49 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register