The Federal Railroad Administration

The Federal Railroad Administration is one of the 10 DOT agencies involved in intermodal transportation. Its purpose is to ensure the safe and reliable transportation of goods and people.

FRA field inspectors examine the railroad track signals, train control and track systems as well operating practices. They also investigate complaints.

Definition

Federal railroads are rail transporters in the United States controlled by the federal government. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) establishes and enforces safety regulations, administers railway funding, and studies ways to improve the efficiency of rail transportation systems. The FRA is one of the 10 agencies of the U.S. Department of Transportation that is concerned with intermodal transportation. Its chief executive officers are the Administrator and Deputy Administrator.

The agency is responsible for all freight and passenger transport that utilizes the railway system of the United States. Additionally the agency supports the rehabilitation of Northeast Corridor rail passenger service and consolidates support from the federal government for rail transportation. In addition, the agency oversees the management and ownership of all intermodal infrastructures such as tracks, rights-of-way, equipment, real property and rolling stock. It also handles the overall coordination of federal rail transportation programs.

FRA's responsibilities also include establishing through regulation, and after an opportunity for comment an procedure that anyone can report to the Secretary Homeland Security any railroad security problems or deficiencies. Additionally, the FRA sets up policies and conducts inspections to assess the compliance with its rail safety regulations in six technical disciplines tracks signal and train control, motive power and equipment, operating practices, hazmat and highway-rail grade crossings.

The agency is tasked with the responsibility to make sure the railway transportation system is secure, economical and environmentally sustainable. In turn, the agency requires railroads to provide the safety of their workers and provide appropriate training for their employees. The agency also sets and enforces railroad prices to ensure that the public is billed fair prices for transportation services.

The Federal Railroad Administration also enacts and implements rules to prevent discrimination towards railroad employees. They also shield whistleblowers from retaliation from railroad carriers. The agency also has a procedure by which fela railroad settlements employees can file complaints about the actions of the company.

The agency's main mission is to ensure secure, reliable and efficient transportation of people and goods to ensure a secure America today and in the future. The FRA accomplishes this through overseeing the regulation of rail safety, managing programs for assistance to railroads, conducting research in support of improving safety in the railroad industry and national transportation policies and coordinating the development of rail networks and assisting the private sector manage railroads. In the past, railroads were large monopolies, with no competition. As a result, the industry often abused its position in the marketplace. Therefore, Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission and other regulatory agencies to curb the abuses of railroad monopolies.

Purpose

The federal railroad is a federal agency that sets rules, oversees funds for rail and studies ways to improve the nation's rail transportation system. It manages the rail infrastructure of the United States and supervises freight and passenger railroads. It is one of the 10 agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also responsible for maintaining and expanding current rail systems, ensuring the capacity of the rail industry to meet the growing demand for freight and travel as well as providing leadership in regional and national system planning.

Safety is the government's main responsibility in the field of rail transportation. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is in charge of this, and has several divisions that oversee the country's passenger and freight railway operations. The largest of these is the Office of fela claims railroad employees Safety, with approximately 350 safety inspectors and is responsible for conducting inspections to determine compliance with regulations in six technical disciplines including track, signal and train control, motive power and equipment, operating procedures hazardous materials and highway-rail grade crossings.

FRA has various departments, including the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This oversees the programs designed to improve freight and passenger railway transportation, including the Northeast Corridor Future. The department is also in charge of the grants that are made to help railways, and it works with other agencies in planning for the country's rail needs.

Another important duty of the FRA is the enforcement of certain federal laws regarding railroads and their employees. This includes preventing railroads from discriminate against employees and making sure that injured railway employees are taken to the nearest hospital to receive treatment. Railroads are also prohibited from delay or deny medical treatment for injured railway workers.

The FRA is the main regulator of the freight and passenger rail industries, however there are other organizations that oversee the economic aspects of rail transportation. The Surface Transportation Board, for example, is in charge of setting rates and managing the economics of the industry. It is also the regulator for railroad mergers, line-sales, construction and abandonment. After a period of public consultation, the agency is also accountable for establishing regulations that allow anyone to report any alleged rail safety violations.

Functions

Rails transport goods and people from and to cities in developed countries as also to villages in countries that are less developed. They transport raw materials to manufacturing and processing factories, and the finished products from these factories to warehouses and stores. Railroads are a critical form of transportation for many vital commodities, such as coal, oil, and grains. In 2020, freight rail transported more than a quarter of country's total freight volume [PDFThe PDF file contains.

A federal railroad operates as a business just like other businesses with departments for marketing, operations, sales and an executive department. The department of marketing and sales works with current and potential customers to determine what kind of rail services they need and how much they will cost. The operations department then produces the rail services that satisfy those requirements at the cheapest cost to earn money for the railroad. The executive department supervises the entire operation, making sure every department is operating efficiently.

The government supports the railways in a variety of ways, from grants to subsidized rates for government-owned transport. Congress also provides funds to support and build new stations and tracks. These subsidy funds are often added to the money that railroads earn through ticket sales and freight contracts.

In the United States, the government is the owner of the passenger railway Amtrak. It is a quasi-public for profit company with a huge stockholder, which is the United States government.

The primary purpose of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is developing and enforcing safety regulations for railroads. This includes regulating the mechanical condition of trains, as well as the safety and health of railroad employees. FRA also gathers and analyzes data on rail safety to identify trends and areas that need improved or increased regulatory attention.

In addition to these core tasks, FRA works on various other projects aimed at improving the security and economy of railway transportation in the United States. For instance, the agency is working to remove obstacles that could delay railroads' introduction of positive train control systems (PTC). PTC is a safety system that makes use of sensors and on-board computers to stop the train automatically when it gets too close to a vehicle or object.

History

The first railroads in the United States were built in the 1820s and 1830s largely in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. Railroads helped speed up industrialization and brought more food products to the market in these regions. This allowed the country become more self-sufficient and less dependent on imports.

In the 19th century's final years, the railroad industry enjoyed a "Golden Age" that saw new, more efficient rail lines were built and passenger transportation became popular. This was largely because of the government's efforts to expand the railroad system. For example the government offered homesteaders land grants to encourage them to move to the West and the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads worked together to complete the first transcontinental railroad which made it possible to travel from New York to San Francisco in just six days.

In the first half century however, the demand for rail passenger services dwindled, while other modes of transport such as cars and planes increased in popularity. In the meantime, the stifling of regulation stifled railroads' economic ability to compete. A series of bankruptcies and service cuts and deferred maintenance was the next step. Additionally, a misguided railroad regulations from the federal government led to the decline of the railroad industry.

Around 1970 the federal government began to loosen the regulatory burdens on railroads. Surface Transportation Board was created to oversee economic issues such as railroad rates and mergers. The Federal Railroad Administration was also created, which sets rail safety regulations and is among the 10 agencies of the U.S. Department of Transportation that oversees freight and passenger transportation.

Since then, the railway infrastructure of the United America has seen a great deal of investment. The Northeast Corridor, for example was rebuilt to accommodate faster, more modern high-speed ground transportation (HSGT) trains. Efforts have also been made to develop more efficient freight rail systems. In the future, FRA hopes to continue its collaboration with all transportation agencies to ensure safe and reliable railroads. It is the agency's job to ensure that the transportation system of the United States operates as efficiently as it can.