The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

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

FRA field inspectors make use of discretion to decide which cases merit the precise and time consuming civil penalty process. This allows them to ensure that the most serious violations of punishment are punished.

SMART-TD, along with its allies, made history in 2024 when they convinced the FRA that two people should be allowed to sit in the cabs of freight trains. The fight is not over.

Safety

The Federal Railroad Administration has a range of safety measures in place to ensure the health and safety of employees as well as the general public. It is responsible for establishing and enforcing rail safety regulations. It also manages the funding for rail and conducts research on rail improvement strategies and technology. It also develops the implementation and maintenance of an action plan to maintain current rail services and infrastructure. It also works to expand and improve the national rail network. The department requires that all rail operators adhere to strict regulations and empower their employees, and provide them with tools to be secure and productive. This includes taking part 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 needed personal protective equipment.

Inspectors of the FRA are at the leading edge of enforcing rail safety regulations and laws. They conduct routine inspections of equipment and conduct a myriad of investigations of complaints of non-compliance. Civil penalties can be imposed on those who violate railroad safety laws. The agency's safety inspectors have broad discretion over whether an incident falls within the legal definition of a civil penalty-worthy employers’ liability act fela. Additionally, the Office of Chief Counsel's safety division reviews all reports received from regional offices to determine their legality before determining penalties. This discretion is exercised at the field and regional levels to ensure that civil penalties are only used in situations that warrant them.

To be convicted of a civil infringement an employee of a railroad must know the rules and regulations that govern his or her actions. They must also be aware of and ignore these rules. The agency does not consider that an individual who acts upon a directive from a supervisor has committed a willful offense. The agency defines "general railroad system" as the entire network that carries goods and passengers within and between cities and metropolitan areas. The trackage of a plant railroad in the steelmill isn't considered to be part of the overall rail transportation system, despite the fact that it is physically connected.

Regulation

The Federal Railroad Administration sets train regulations, ranging from those related to safety and the movement of hazardous materials. The agency also oversees rail financing which includes loans and grants for improvements to infrastructure and service. The agency collaborates with other DOT agencies and with industry to devise strategies to improve the country's railroad system. This includes ensuring the current rail infrastructure and services, addressing the needs for capacity expansion and expanding the network strategically, and coordinating the regional and national system's development and planning.

The agency is responsible for freight transportation but also supervises passenger transportation. The agency is working to connect people to places they want and provide more alternatives for travel. The agency is focused on improving the experience for passengers as well as increasing the safety of the current fleet, and ensuring the railway system continues to function efficiently.

Railroads must abide by a variety of federal regulations, relating to the size of the crews on trains. This issue has become an issue of contention in recent years, with several states enacting legislation that requires two-person crews on trains. This final rule outlines the minimum requirements for crew size at the federal level, making sure that all railroads are held to the same safety standards.

This also requires every railroad operating a single-person train crew to notify FRA of the operation and submit an assessment of risk. This will allow FRA to compare the parameters of each operation with the parameters of a standard two-person crew operation. This rule also alters the review standard of a special approval request to determine if an operation is "consistent" with railroad safety to determining if the operation is as secure or more secure than a two-person crew operations.

During the period of public comment on this rule, a lot of people voted for a requirement of a two person crew. A letter from 29 people expressed their concern that a single crew member would not be as quick to respond to train-related malfunctions or crossing incidents, or assist emergency response personnel at a highway-rail grade crossing. Commenters pointed out that human factors are the reason for a majority of railroad accidents. They believe that a bigger crew will ensure the safety of the train and its cargo.

Technology

Freight and passenger rails employ various technologies to improve efficiency, increase security, and increase safety. The rail industry vernacular contains a myriad of specific terms and acronyms, but some of the more notable innovations include machines-vision systems, instrumented rail inspection systems, driverless trains, rolling data centers and drones that are not piloted (commonly known as drones).

Technology isn't just about replacing certain jobs. It helps people do their jobs better and safer. Passenger railroads use smartphones apps and contactless fare cards in order to increase ridership and improve the efficiency of their system. Other innovations, such as autonomous rail vehicles, are inching closer to reality.

The Federal Railroad Administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to ensure safe, reliable, and affordable transportation in America, is focused on modernizing the railway infrastructure. This is a multi-billion dollars initiative that will see bridges and tunnels restored tracks, power systems and tracks upgraded, and stations reconstructed or upgraded. The FRA's rail improvements program will be greatly extended by the recently passed bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a central component of this initiative. The National Academies' recent review of the office revealed that it was successful in engaging, maintaining communications using inputs from a variety of stakeholders. It is still required to focus on how its research contributes towards the department's primary goal of ensuring the safe movement of people and goods via rail.

One area in which the agency may be able to improve its effectiveness is in identifying and assisting the development of automated train technology and systems. The Association of American Railroads (AAR), the primary industry association for the freight rail industry that is focused on research policy, standard-setting and policy created an Technical Advisory Group for Autonomous Train Operations in order to help create standards within the industry.

The FRA is interested in the group's development of a taxonomy to describe automated rail vehicles, a system that defines clearly and consistently different levels of automation. This would apply to rail transit as well as vehicles on the road. The agency will also need to understand the level of risk to safety that the industry sees with implementing fully automated operation and whether or not the industry is contemplating additional protections to minimize the risk.

Innovation

Rail companies are embracing technology to improve worker safety, boost efficiency in business processes and ensure that the cargo they transport is delivered intact. These innovations include cameras and sensors that monitor freight, to new railcar designs that help keep dangerous cargo safe during transportation. Certain of these technologies enable railroads to dispatch emergency personnel directly to the scene of an accident to reduce the danger and minimize the damage to people and property.

One of the most prominent innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC), which will inhibit train-to-train collisions, situations where trains are on tracks that shouldn't be, as well as other accidents that result from human errors. This system consists of three parts of onboard locomotive systems that track the train; wayside networks that communicate with the locomotive; and a huge server that collects and analyses data.

Railroads that transport passengers also use technology to increase safety and security. Amtrak, for example, is experimenting with drones in order to help train security staff find passengers and other items in the event of an emergency. The company is also examining ways to use drones. They could be used to inspect bridges and other infrastructure or to replace the lighting on railway towers that are dangerous for workers to climb.

Other technologies that can be used for railways for passengers include smart track technology, which is able to detect the presence of people or objects on the tracks and send out a warning to drivers if it's unsafe to proceed. These kinds of technologies can be particularly beneficial in detecting unsafe crossings and other problems in the off-hours, when traffic levels are lower and there are fewer people to witness an accident.

Telematics is yet another significant technological advancement in the rail industry. It allows railways, shippers and other stakeholders to follow a traincar's progress in real-time. Traincar crews and operators can benefit from greater accountability and visibility which will allow them increase efficiency and avoid unnecessary maintenance. It will also help reduce delays when delivering freight.