Enhancing Railroad Discretion in Sounding Locomotive Horns at Passenger Stations

What it does

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.

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-AD18 since Jan. 1, 2025.

• July 1, 2025 Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). Enhancing Railroad Discretion in Sounding Locomotive Horns at Passenger Stations

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-2025-0128 on Regulations.gov
• Title 49 on eCFR

The record as published

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