Fond du lac congressman Tom Petri is speaking out on Capitol Hill about the issue of trains blocking railroad crossings following a recent incident in Fond du lac County. Last week a freight train blocked the Highway 175 crossing in Byron south of Fond du lac for several hours upsetting motorists and law enforcement. Petri, a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, raised the issue at a committee markup of the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2014. “Trains are blocking crossings sometimes for hours on end. One crossing was blocked for five hours because the crew had met its minimum hours on duty and had to stop the train to wait for a new crew to arrive, could not move 50 feet in order to open the crossing so it was closed for five hours. This is unbelievable,” Petri said. Petri says he plans to introduce legislation to address the matter. Petri says the bill will aim to provide flexibility for federal hours-of-service regulations to prevent incidents like this from occurring in the future. Petri says he also plans to continue consulting with the railroads about the situation.
