Norton, Carper Amtrak Smoking Ban Bill Passes Out of House and Senate Committees

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) today announced that their bill to ban smoking, including electronic cigarettes, on Amtrak was recently passed by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee as part of the INVEST in America Act and by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation as part of the Surface Transportation Investment Act of 2021.

"While Amtrak deserves our thanks and praise for implementing its own policy banning smoking on trains, my bill with Senator Carper to codify that ban will ensure the policy cannot be reversed," Norton said.

"In 2021, smoking has no place in enclosed public spaces like train cars," said Senator Carper, former Amtrak Board Member and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. "As a near-daily Amtrak rider, I have supported their policy prohibiting smoking and even introduced legislation with Congresswoman Norton to make that policy federal law. Now, I'm pleased to see that both the Senate Commerce Committee and House Transportation and Infrastructure have included our legislation in their surface transportation reauthorization bills. I think we can all agree that it's time to ban smoking on passenger rail."

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