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The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

The Federal Railroad Administration creates and enforces safety regulations for rail, provides rail funding and studies strategies for improving rail safety.

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

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

Safety

The Federal Railroad Administration has a variety of safety measures in place to safeguard the safety and health of its employees and the general public. It formulates and enforces safety regulations for rail and oversees the funding for rail. It also studies strategies for improving rail infrastructure and new technologies. It also formulates, implements and maintains a plan for maintaining current rail services and infrastructure. It also develops and improves the rail network across the nation. The department requires that all rail operators adhere to strict guidelines and empower their employees, and provide them with tools to ensure their safety and success. This includes taking part in the secure close call reporting system, setting up occupational health and safety committees, with full union participation, as well as anti-retaliation protections and providing employees with needed personal protective equipment.

FRA inspectors are on the front lines of enforcement of railway safety regulations and laws. They conduct regular inspections of equipment and conduct hundreds of investigations of complaints of noncompliance. Anyone who violates rail safety laws may be subject to civil penalties. Safety inspectors at the agency have a broad decision-making power to determine if violations fall within the legal definition of an act punishable with civil penalties. Additionally the Office of Chief Counsel's security division reviews all reports received from regional offices to determine their legal sufficiency before assessing penalties. This discretion is exercised both at the regional and field levels to ensure that civil penalties are only applied when they are necessary.

A rail employee must be aware of rules and regulations that govern his or her actions, and not knowingly violate those standards to be guilty of a civil penalty-worthy offence. However the agency does not consider anyone who acts under a directive from a supervisor as having committed an intentional violation. The agency defines the "general railroad system of transportation" as the whole network over which goods and passengers travel within metropolitan and city areas, or between them. A plant railroad's trackage in a steel mill is not considered to be part of the general transportation system by rail, even although it is physically connected to it.

Regulation

The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible to establish regulations for train operations that pertain to safety and the movement of hazardous substances. The agency also oversees rail financing including loans and grants for infrastructure and service improvements. The agency collaborates with other DOT agencies and the industry to develop strategies for improving the nation's railroad system. This includes maintaining current rail services and infrastructure, making sure that there is enough capacity and strategically expanding the network, as well as coordinating regional and national systems planning and development.

Although the majority of the agency's work focuses on freight transportation, it also handles the transportation of passengers. The agency aims to connect people to places they'd like to visit and offer more options for travel. The agency is focused primarily on improving the experience of passengers and enhancing the safety of the current fleet, and making sure that the rail system continues to operate efficiently.

Railroads are required to abide with a number of federal regulations, including the ones pertaining to the size and composition of the train crews. This issue has become controversial in recent years, with a few states enacting legislation that requires two-person crews on trains. This final rule codifies the minimum size of crew requirements at a federal level, ensuring that all railroads are subject to the same safety standards.

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

During the public comment period on this rule, a lot of people supported the requirement for a two-person crew. A letter from 29 people outlined their concerns that a lone crewmember could not be as quick to respond to issues with trains or grade crossing incidents or assist emergency responders at a highway-rail grade crossing. The commenters emphasized that human factors are responsible for more than half of railroad accidents, and they believe that a larger team will ensure the safety of the train and its cargo.

Technology

Railroads that transport passengers and freight employ a wide array of technologies to enhance efficiency, add safety, boost security and much more. Rail industry jargon comprises various specific terms and acronyms. Some of the most well-known include machine vision systems (also called drones) and rail-inspection systems that are instrumented, driverless train, rolling data centers, and unmanned aerial vehicle (also called drones).

Technology doesn't just replace some jobs. It empowers people to perform their jobs better and with greater security. Passenger railroads use smartphones apps and contactless fare cards in order to increase ridership and fela case settlements improve the efficiency of their system. Other innovations such as autonomous rail cars are getting closer to reality.

As part of its ongoing efforts to improve secure, reliable and affordable transportation options for the country The Federal Railroad Administration is focused on modernizing its rail infrastructure. This is a multi-billion-dollar project that will see tunnels and bridges rebuilt tracks, power systems and tracks upgraded, and stations reconstructed or replaced. 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 a key element in this initiative. The most recent National Academies review of the office found it excelled at engaging with, maintaining communication and utilizing inputs of a wide range of stakeholders. However, it needs to concentrate on how its research contributes to the department's primary strategic goal of ensuring the safe movement of goods and people via rail.

The agency could improve its efficiency by identifying and supporting automated train systems and technologies. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is the main industry association for the freight rail industry that focuses on research and policy, as well as standard setting, established the Technical Advisory Group for Autonomous Train Operations to assist in helping create standards within the industry.

FRA is interested in the group's development of an automated rail taxonomy. It is a system of standards to clearly and consistently define the different levels of automation that would be applicable to both rail and on-road transit vehicles. The agency will also need to know the degree of safety risk that the industry perceives associated when implementing a fully automated system and whether or not the industry is considering additional security measures to reduce the risk.

Innovation

Rail companies are adopting technology to enhance worker safety, improve efficiency in business processes, and ensure that the cargo they transport is delivered intact. Examples of such innovation include the use of cameras and sensors to track freight, to the latest railcar designs that keep dangerous cargo secure during transit. Some of these technologies even provide a way for railroads to send emergency response personnel to locations of accidents so they can quickly mitigate the damage and reduce the risk to people and property.

Positive Train Control (PTC) is among the most significant developments 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. The system is comprised of three components consisting of locomotives onboard 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 the use of drones in order to help security personnel on trains find passengers and other items in the event of an emergency. The company is also exploring ways to make use of drones. They could be used to examine bridges and other infrastructures or to replace the lighting on railway towers that are dangerous for workers to climb.

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

Another significant technological advance in the rail industry is telematics which enables railroads, shippers and other stakeholders to see a traincar's status and condition through real-time tracking. Railcar operators and crews can benefit from greater accountability and transparency, which will help them increase efficiency as well as avoid unnecessary maintenance and reduce delays when delivering freight.