The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

The Federal Railroad Administration creates and enforces safety regulations for rail, 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 time-consuming and precise civil penalty process. This ensures that the violations most deserving of punishment are punished.

SMART-TD and its allies created history in 2024 when they convinced the FRA that two people should be allowed to sit in the cabs of freight trains. The fight isn't over.

Safety

The Federal Railroad Administration has a range of safety measures in place to protect the health and welfare of its employees and the general public. It is responsible for creating and enforcing safety regulations for rail. It also administers the funding for rail and studies rail improvement strategies and technological developments. It also creates and implements a plan to ensure that current rail services, infrastructure and capacity, and strategically develops and improves the nation's rail network. The department expects all rail companies to abide by strict rules and regulations, empower their workers and provide them with the tools needed to be successful and safe. This includes participating in the confidential close call reporting system, setting up occupational health and safety committees, with full union participation and anti-retaliation protections and providing employees with the necessary personal safety equipment.

FRA inspectors are on the front lines of enforcement of rail safety laws and regulations. They perform routine inspections on equipment and investigate hundreds of complaints. Civil penalties may be handed out to those who violate the rail safety laws. Safety inspectors from the agency have a broad discretion on whether an individual violation is in line with the statutory definition of a criminal penalty-worthy act. The Office of Chief Counsel's safety division also scrutinizes all reports submitted by regional offices to ensure they are legal before assessing penalties. The exercise of this discretion at both the field and regional levels helps ensure that the exacting, time-consuming civil penalty process is applied only in situations that are truly deserving of the effect of a civil fine.

A rail employee must be aware of the rules and regulations that govern his actions and knowingly disregard those standards to be guilty of a civil penalty-worthy offence. The agency does not believe that an individual who acts upon a directive from a supervisor has committed a willful offence. The agency defines "general railroad injury fela lawyer system" as the whole network that carries goods and passengers between cities and metropolitan areas. The trackage of a plant railroad within a steelmill is not 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, including those related 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 devise strategies for improving the nation's rail infrastructure. This includes ensuring the existing rail infrastructure and services, addressing the needs for capacity expansion and expanding the network strategically as well as coordinating the regional and national system's development and planning.

The agency is primarily responsible for freight transportation, but also supervises passenger transportation. The agency aims to connect people to the places they want and provide more options for travel. The agency's focus is on improving the passenger's experience as well as enhancing the safety of its current fleet, and making sure that the rail network continues operating efficiently.

Railroads are required to comply with a range of federal regulations, which include those that deal with the size and composition of train crews. This issue has become controversial in recent years, with several states passing legislation that requires two-person crews on trains. This final rule establishes federally the minimum size crew requirements, ensuring that all railroads adhere to the same safety standards.

This law also requires that each railroad operating with a crew of one notify FRA and submit an analysis of risk. This will enable FRA to evaluate the characteristics of each operation with the standard two-person crew operation. Additionally, this rule changes the standard of review for a special approval petition from determining whether an operation is "consistent with railroad safety" to determining if approving the operation is safe or safer than a two-crewmember operation.

During the period of public comment for this rule, a number of people voted for a requirement of a two person crew. A form letter sent by 29 people outlined their concerns that a lone crewmember could not be as quick to respond to train malfunctions or grade crossing incidents or assist emergency responders at a highway-rail grade crossing. Commenters noted that human factors are the reason for more than half all railroad accidents. They believe that a larger team will ensure the safety of the train as well as its cargo.

Technology

Freight and passenger rails use various technologies to increase efficiency, increase security, and increase safety. Rail industry jargon includes various unique terms and acronyms. Some of the most notable include machine vision systems (also called drones) instruments for rail-inspection systems, driverless train, rolling data centers, and unmanned aerial vehicle (also known as drones).

Technology doesn't just replace some jobs. It allows people to do their jobs better and with greater security. Passenger railroads are using smartphone apps and contactless fare payment cards in order to boost ridership and make the system more efficient. Other innovations, such as autonomous rail vehicles, are inching closer to becoming reality.

The Federal Railroad Administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to improve safe affordable, reliable, and secure transportation in the United States, is focused on modernizing the rail infrastructure. This multi-billion-dollar project will see tunnels, bridges tracks, power systems and tracks updated, and stations being rebuilt or replaced. The FRA's rail improvements program will be significantly expanded by the recently passed bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a central piece in this initiative. The National Academies' recent review of the office concluded that it was successful in engaging, maintaining communications using inputs from a variety of stakeholders. However, it needs to concentrate on how its research contributes to the department's primary strategic goal of ensuring safe transportation of goods and people by rail.

The agency could enhance its efficiency by identifying and supporting automated train systems and technologies. The Association of American Railroads, the main freight rail industry industry organization that focuses on research, policy and standard setting the Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to help in developing industry standards for the implementation of the technology.

FRA is likely to be interested in the group's creation of an automated rail taxonomy, which is a system of standards to clearly and consistently define the different levels of automation that will be applicable to both rail and on-road transit vehicles. The agency will also be looking to know the level of risk to safety that the industry sees when implementing a fully automated system and whether the industry is considering adding additional security measures to reduce the risk.

Innovation

Rail companies are adopting new technologies to enhance worker safety, increase efficiency in business processes and ensure that the cargo they transport is delivered intact. These innovations vary from cameras and sensors that monitor freight, to new railcar designs that keep hazardous cargo safe during transportation. Certain of these technologies enable railroads to dispatch emergency personnel directly to the scene of an accident to minimize risk and minimize damage to people and property.

Positive Train Control (PTC) is among the most significant innovations in rail. It can keep train-to-train accidents out of the way, as well as situations when trains are in a position they shouldn't and other accidents caused by human error. This system is made up of three parts of onboard locomotive systems that track the train; wayside networks which communicate with the locomotive and a huge server that analyzes and collects data.

Railroads that transport passengers also use technology to improve safety and security. For instance, Amtrak is experimenting with drones to assist security personnel in locating passengers and other items aboard trains in case in the event of an emergency. The company is also looking into other ways to use drones, including deploying drones to conduct inspections of bridges and other infrastructure such as replacing the lighting on railway towers, which could be hazardous for workers to climb.

Other technologies that can be used for passenger railroads include smart track technology, which can detect the presence of people or objects on the tracks and issue drivers with a warning if it's unsafe to travel. These kinds of technologies can be particularly beneficial in detecting unsafe crossings and other problems during off-hours, when traffic is at its lowest and fewer people are around to witness an accident.

Telematics is yet another significant technological advance in the rail industry. It allows shippers, railways and other stakeholders to follow a traincar's progress in real-time. These capabilities give railcar owners and crews greater control and visibility. They can also aid in improving efficiency, avoid unnecessary maintenance and reduce delays in delivering freight to customers.