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The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

The Federal Railroad Administration creates and enforces rail safety regulations It also provides rail funding and researches rail improvement strategies.

FRA inspectors on the ground make use of discretion to determine which cases are worthy of the lengthy and precise civil penalty process. This helps ensure that the most serious violations are punished.

Members of SMART-TD and their allies made history in 2024 by pushing the FRA to keep two people in the locomotive cab of freight trains. The fight isn't over.

Safety

The Federal Railroad Administration has a variety of safety measures in place to ensure the safety and health of employees and the public. It formulates and enforces safety regulations for rail, administers rail funding and studies strategies for improving rail infrastructure and new technologies. It also creates and implements a plan to ensure the current rail services, infrastructure and capacity, and strategically develops and improves the national rail network. The department requires that all rail operators adhere to strict rules and empower their employees, and provide them with the tools to be secure and productive. This includes participating in the confidential close-call reporting system, creating labor-management occupational safety and health committees with full participation from unions and anti-retaliation clauses and providing employees with the required personal protective gear.

FRA inspectors are on the front lines of enforcement of railway safety regulations and laws. They conduct routine inspections on equipment and investigate complaints from hundreds of people. Civil penalties may be applied to those who break railroad safety laws. Safety inspectors from the agency have a broad decision-making power to determine if an act is within the legal definition of an act that is punishable by civil penalties. In addition the Office of Chief Counsel's safety department examines all reports submitted from regional offices to determine their legal sufficiency before assessing penalties. The exercise of this discretion at the regional and field levels helps ensure that the exacting, time-consuming civil penalty process is used only in situations that truly warrant the deterrent impact of a civil penalty.

To be considered guilty of a civil violation an employee of a railroad must know the rules and regulations governing the conduct of his or her employees. They must also knowingly ignore these rules. The agency doesn't consider that an individual who acts on a supervisor's directive has committed a willful offence. The agency defines "general railroad system" as the entire system that carries goods and passengers between metropolitan areas and cities. The trackage of a plant railroad in the steelmill isn't considered to be part of the general rail transportation system, despite the fact that it's physically connected.

Regulation

The Federal Railroad Administration sets train regulations, including those pertaining to safety and the movement of hazardous materials. The agency also manages financing for rail including loans and grants for improvements to infrastructure and service. The agency collaborates with other DOT agencies and industry to develop strategies for improving the rail system of the United States. This includes ensuring the current rail services and infrastructure, in addition to addressing the need for additional capacity and strategically expanding the network, and coordinating regional and national systems planning and development.

The agency is primarily responsible for freight transportation, but also manages passenger transportation. The agency is working to connect people to the places they'd like to visit and offer more options for travel. The agency is focused on improving the experience for passengers and increasing the safety of the current fleet, and ensuring that the rail network is operating efficiently.

Railroads must comply with many federal regulations, including those pertaining to the size of the crews on trains. In recent times the issue has become controversial. Some states have passed legislation mandating two-person crews on trains. This final rule codifies federally the minimum crew size requirements, making sure that all railroads follow the same safety standards.

This rule also requires that every fela claims railroad employees that has a one-person crew notify FRA and submit an analysis of risk. This will allow FRA to identify the specifics of each operation and compare them with the typical two-person crew operation. In addition this rule will change the criteria for reviewing a special approval petition from to determining whether an operation is "consistent with railroad safety" to determining whether the operation is safer or more secure than an operation with two crew members.

During the public comment period on this rule, many people backed the requirement of a two-person crew. A form letter sent by 29 people expressed their concern that a single crew member might not be as quick to respond to train-related malfunctions or crossing incidents or assist emergency response personnel at a highway rail grade crossing. The commenters noted that human factors account for more than half of railroad accidents and they think that a bigger crew would help ensure the safety of the train and the cargo it transports.

Technology

Trains for passenger and freight use various technologies to improve efficiency, enhance safety, and boost security. The rail industry lingo includes a variety of specific terms and acronyms, but some of the more notable developments include machines-vision systems, instrumented rail inspection systems, driverless trains, rolling data centers and unmanned aerial vehicles (commonly called drones).

Technology isn't merely replacing jobs, it's also empowering people to do their job more efficiently and with greater security. Railroads for passengers use apps on smartphones and contactless fare cards to increase passengership and boost the efficiency of their system. Other innovations, like autonomous rail vehicles, are moving closer to reality.

As part of its ongoing effort to advance secure, reliable and affordable transportation options for the country In its ongoing effort to ensure safe, reliable and affordable transportation for the nation, the Federal Railroad Administration is focused on modernizing its rail infrastructure. This is a multi-billion-dollar initiative that will see bridges and tunnels repaired as well as tracks and power systems upgraded, and stations rebuilt or upgraded. The FRA's rail improvement program will be significantly expanded by the recently passed bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The Office of Research, Development and Technology of the agency is an essential element in this initiative. The most recent National Academies review of the office found that it excelled in engaging with, maintaining communication and utilizing inputs from a variety of stakeholders. It must continue to be aware of how its research contributes to the department's primary goal of ensuring the safety of goods and people by railways.

The agency could improve its efficiency by identifying and supporting automated train systems and technology. The Association of American Railroads, the freight rail industry's primary industry organization that focuses on research, policy and standard setting, has established a Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to help in developing industry standards for implementing the technology.

The FRA is interested in the group's creation of a taxonomy for automated rail vehicles, a system that defines clearly and consistently the different levels of automation. This would apply to rail transit as well as vehicles on the road. The agency will want to know the amount of risk that the industry perceives with fully automated operation, as well as whether the industry is considering any additional measures to mitigate the risk.

Innovation

Rail companies are embracing technology to increase worker safety, increase efficiency in business processes and ensure that the freight they transport is delivered intact. These innovations vary from cameras and sensors that monitor freight, to new railcar designs which keep hazardous cargo safe during transport. Certain of these technologies provide a way for railroads to send emergency response personnel to the scene of an accident so they can swiftly reduce risks to property and people.

Positive Train Control (PTC) is one of the most significant innovations in rail. It will stop train-to-train accidents, instances where trains are on track they shouldn't be, and other accidents caused by human errors. This system consists of three parts consisting of locomotives onboard that track the train; wayside networks that communicate with the locomotive and a huge server that collects and analyses data.

Passenger railroads are also embracing technology to improve safety and security. For instance, Federal Employers Liability Act Amtrak is experimenting with the use of drones to assist passenger security staff in locating passengers and other items onboard trains in the event of an emergency. The company is also examining ways to utilize drones. They could be used to inspect bridges and other infrastructure, or to replace the lights on railway towers, which are dangerous for workers to climb.

Other technologies that can be utilized for passenger railroads include smart track technology, which is able to detect the presence of people or objects on the tracks and issue a warning to drivers if it's unsafe to travel. These types of technology are especially beneficial in detecting unsafe crossings and other problems in the off-hours, when traffic levels are lower and fewer people are around to witness an accident.

Telematics is a significant technological breakthrough in the rail industry. It lets railways, shippers, and other stakeholders to follow a traincar's progress in real-time. Railcar operators and crews can benefit from greater accountability and transparency which will allow them to improve efficiency as well as avoid unnecessary maintenance and delay in the delivery of freight.