The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

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

FRA field inspectors use discretion to decide which cases warrant the exact and time consuming civil penalty process. This ensures that the violations most deserving of punishment are penalized.

SMART-TD, along with its allies, made history by 2024 when they convinced the FRA that two people should be allowed to sit in the cabs of freight trains. The fight continues.

Safety

The Federal Railroad Administration has a range of safety measures in place to protect the health and welfare of employees and the public. It formulates and enforces safety regulations for rail as well as manages funding for rail and studies strategies for improving rail infrastructure and technology. It also creates, implements and maintains an action plan to maintain current rail services and infrastructure. It also works to expand and improve the rail network across the nation. The department expects all railroad employers to adhere to the strictest rules and regulations, empower their employees and provide them with the tools to be successful and safe. This includes the confidential close-call reporting system, setting up labor-management occupational safety and health committees that have full-union participation and antiretaliation provisions and providing employees with the needed personal protective gear.

Inspectors of the FRA are at the leading edge of enforcing rail safety laws and regulations. They perform routine inspections on equipment and conduct investigations into hundreds of complaints. Civil penalties are applied to those who break railroad safety laws. Safety inspectors from the agency have wide discretion to determine whether an act is within the legal definition of an act that is punishable by civil penalties. Additionally, the Office of Chief Counsel's security division examines all reports submitted by regional offices for legal sufficiency before assessing penalties. The exercise of this discretion both at the field and regional levels ensures that the lengthy, time-consuming civil penalty process is utilized only in cases that truly warrant the deterrent impact of a civil penalty.

To be guilty of a civil infringement an employee of a railroad must know the rules and regulations governing their actions. They must also be aware of and not adhere to these rules. The agency doesn't consider that a person who acts on a supervisor's directive is guilty of committing a willful crime. 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 a steelmill is not considered to be part of the general rail transportation system, even though it is physically connected.

Regulation

The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible to establish regulations for train operations, such as those relating to safety and the transportation of hazardous substances. The agency also oversees rail financing including loans and grants for infrastructure and service improvements. The agency works 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 need for capacity expansion, expanding the network strategically, and coordinating the national and regional system planning and development.

The agency is responsible for freight transport, but also manages passenger transportation. The agency is working to provide more options for passengers and connect people with the places they want to travel to. The agency is focused on improving the passenger experience as well as increasing the safety of the current fleet, and ensuring the rail network continues to operate efficiently.

Railroads are required to abide with a range of federal regulations, including the ones pertaining to the size and composition of crews on trains. This issue has become a controversial one in recent years, with some states passing legislation that requires two-person crews on trains. This final rule codifies federally the minimum size of crew requirements, ensuring that all railroads adhere to the same safety standards.

This rule also requires each railroad operating a single-person train crew to inform FRA of the operation and submit a risk assessment. This will allow FRA to assess the requirements of each operation with the standard two-person crew operation. This rule also alters the review standard of a special approval request from determining whether an operation is "consistent" with railroad safety standards to determining whether the operation is as secure or less risky than a two-person crew operations.

During the public comment period for this rule, many people expressed support for the requirement for 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 malfunctions or grade crossing incidents or assist emergency response personnel at a highway-rail grade crossing. Commenters noted that human factors are the reason for a majority of railroad accidents. They believe that a larger crew would ensure the security of the train and its cargo.

Technology

Railroads that transport passengers and freight employ various technologies to enhance efficiency, improve security, improve safety and much more. Rail industry jargon comprises a variety of specific terms and acronyms. Some of the most well-known include machine vision systems (also called drones) instruments for rail-inspection systems driverless trains rolling data centers and unmanned aerial vehicles (also known as drones).

Technology isn't merely replacing jobs -- it's empowering individuals to perform their work more efficiently and with greater security. Passenger railroads are using smartphones apps and contactless fare payment cards to improve ridership and improve the efficiency of the system. Other innovations such as autonomous rail cars are getting closer to becoming reality.

The Federal Railroad Administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to improve secure, reliable, and affordable transportation in the United States is focusing on modernizing the rail infrastructure. This multi-billion dollar project will see tunnels, bridges, tracks and power systems updated, and stations renovated or replaced. The recently passed bipartisan infrastructure law will substantially grow the agency's rail improvement programs.

The Office of Research, Development and Technology of the agency is an essential element in this initiative. Recent National Academies review of the office found that it excelled in engaging with, maintaining communication and utilizing inputs of a wide range of stakeholders. But it still needs to concentrate on how its research contributes to the department's primary strategic goal of ensuring the safe transportation of goods and people via rail.

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

FRA is interested in the group's development of an automated rail taxonomy, a system of standards to clearly and consistently define different levels of automation that could be applicable to both on-road and rail transit vehicles. The agency will also need to know the degree of safety risk that the industry sees with the introduction of fully automated operation and whether the industry is contemplating additional security measures to reduce the risk.

Innovation

Railroads are embracing technology to improve worker safety, make business processes more efficient and help ensure that the freight that they transport arrives at its destination intact. Examples of this kind of innovations include the use of sensors and cameras to track freight, to the latest railcar designs that keep dangerous cargo secure during transit. Some of these technologies enable railroads to send emergency responders directly to the scene of an accident to reduce the risk and damage to people and property.

Positive Train Control (PTC) is one of the most significant developments in rail. It is designed to prevent train-to-train accidents, situations where trains are on track they shouldn't and other accidents caused by human errors. This system is made up of three parts consisting of locomotives onboard that track the train; wayside networks which communicate with the locomotive; and a huge server that analyzes and collects data.

Passenger railroads are also embracing technology to enhance security and safety. For instance, Amtrak is experimenting with drones to aid security personnel in finding passengers and other items aboard trains in case in the event of an emergency. The company is also exploring other possibilities to utilize drones, including deploying drones to inspect bridges and other infrastructure, like replacing the lights on railway towers, which can be dangerous for workers to climb.

Smart track technology is another technology that can be utilized in railways for passengers. It can detect objects or people on tracks and alert motorists that it is not safe to continue. These types of technologies can be particularly useful in detecting crossings that are not authorized as well as other issues that can arise during times when traffic levels are lower and there are fewer people to witness an accident.

Another important technological breakthrough in the rail industry is telematics which enables railroads, shippers and other stakeholders to see the condition and AccidentInjuryLawyers status of a traincar through real-time tracking. These capabilities provide railcar operators and their crews more accountability and transparency and help them improve efficiency, prevent unnecessary maintenance and avoid delays in delivering freight to customers.