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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 conducts research on strategies to improve rail infrastructure.
FRA field inspectors employ discretion to decide which cases warrant the exact and time-consuming civil penalty process. This allows them to ensure that those violations most deserving of punishment are penalized.
Members of SMART-TD and their allies have made history in 2024 by pushing the FRA to ensure that two people are in the cabs of locomotives of freight trains. The fight isn't over.
Safety
The Federal Railroad Administration has a variety of safety measures in place to protect the safety and health of employees as well as the general public. It develops and enforces rail safety regulations, administers rail funding and researches rail improvement strategies and new technologies. fela attorneys near me creates and implements a plan to ensure that current rail services, infrastructure and capacity, and strategically develops and enhances the national rail network. The department requires all rail companies to abide by strict rules and regulations, and empower their employees and provide them with tools needed to be successful and safe. This includes participating in the confidential close-call reporting system, establishing occupational health and safety committees, with full participation from unions and protection against retaliation and providing employees with the necessary personal protective equipment.
Inspectors of the FRA are at the leading edge of enforcing rail safety laws and regulations. They conduct regular inspections of equipment and conduct hundreds of investigations into complaints of noncompliance. Civil penalties may be imposed on those who violate rail safety laws. The safety inspectors of the agency have a broad discretion on whether an individual violation is in line with the legal definition of a crime that is punishable by civil penalties. The Office of Chief Counsel’s safety division also reviews all reports submitted by regional offices to ensure they are legal before assessing penalties. This discretion is exercised at both the regional and field levels to ensure that civil penalties are only used in situations that warrant them.
To be guilty of a civil offense the employee of a rail company must know the rules and regulations that govern their actions. They also must be aware that they not adhere to these rules. The agency does not believe that an individual who acts in response to a supervisor's direction is guilty of committing a willful crime. The agency defines the "general railroad system of transportation" as the entire system over which goods and passengers travel within cities and metropolitan areas or between them. The trackage of a plant railroad in a steel mill is not considered to be part of the overall transportation system by rail even although it is physically connected to it.
Regulation
The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for establishing regulations for trains that pertain to safety and the transportation of dangerous substances. The agency oversees rail finance, which includes grants and loan to improve service and infrastructure. The agency collaborates with other DOT agencies and with industry to develop strategies to improve the country's railroad system. This includes ensuring the current rail infrastructure and services and making sure that there is enough capacity strategically expanding the network and coordinating regional and national systems planning and development.
Although the majority of the agency's work focuses on freight transportation, it also manages the transportation of passengers. The agency aims to connect people to the places they want and provide more choices for travel. The agency is focused primarily on enhancing the experience for passengers, enhancing safety of the existing fleet, and ensuring that the rail network is operating efficiently.
Railroads must comply with a variety of federal regulations, including the ones pertaining to the size and composition of crews on trains. This issue has become an issue of contention in recent years, with several states passing legislation that requires two-person crews on trains. This final rule establishes federally the minimum crew size requirements, making sure that all railroads adhere to the same safety standards.
This also requires every railroad that has one-person train crews to inform FRA of the operation and submit an assessment of risk. This will allow FRA to compare the parameters of each operation to the parameters of a standard two-person crew operation. This rule also alters the review standard of an application for special approval 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 operation.
During the time of public comment for this rule, a number of people expressed their support for a requirement of two people on the crew. In a formal letter 29 people voiced their concern that a single member of the crew will not be in a position to respond as quickly to train accidents or malfunctions at grade crossings, or assist emergency personnel on a highway-rail level crossing. Commenters noted that human factors are responsible for a majority of railroad accidents. They believe that a larger team will ensure the safety of the train and its cargo.
Technology
Trains for passenger and freight use different technologies to improve efficiency, enhance security, and increase safety. Rail industry jargon covers various unique terms and acronyms. Some of the most prominent include machine vision systems (also known as drones), instrumented rail-inspection systems, driverless train rolling data centers and unmanned aerial vehicle (also known as drones).
Technology isn't just replacing certain jobs, it's also empowering people to perform their jobs more efficiently and with greater security. Railroads that transport passengers use smartphones and contactless fare cards in order to increase ridership and improve the efficiency of their system. Other developments like autonomous rail cars are getting closer to reality.
As part of its ongoing effort to ensure safe, reliable and affordable transportation options for the country In its ongoing effort to ensure safe, reliable and affordable transportation for the nation, the Federal Railroad Administration is focused on modernizing its rail infrastructure. This is a multi-billion dollar initiative that will see bridges and tunnels restored tracks, power systems and tracks upgraded, and stations rebuilt or upgraded. FRA's recently enacted bipartisan infrastructure law will dramatically expand the agency's rail improvements programs.
The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a key piece in this initiative. Recent National Academies review of the office found it excelled at engaging with, maintaining communication and utilizing inputs from a range of stakeholders. But it still needs to be more focused on how its research aids in the department's main strategic goal of ensuring safe movement of people and goods by railway.
One area where the agency could be able improve its effectiveness is in identifying and assisting the advancement of automated train systems and technologies. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is the principal industry association for the freight rail industry, which focuses on research, policy and standard setting and has established an Technical Advisory Group for Autonomous Train Operations in order to help develop standards within the industry.
The FRA is interested in the group's creation of a taxonomy for automated rail vehicles, a system that defines clearly and consistently different levels of automation. This could apply to rail transit as well as on-road vehicles. The agency will also need to know the level of risk to safety that the industry perceives associated with the introduction of fully automated operation and whether the industry is contemplating additional safeguards to mitigate that risk.
Innovation
Rail companies are embracing technology to enhance worker safety, improve efficiency in business processes, and ensure that the freight they transport reaches its destination in good condition. These innovations range from sensors and cameras that monitor freight to new railcar designs that keep hazardous cargo safe during transportation. Certain of these technologies enable railroads to send emergency responders directly to the scene of an accident to minimize risk and minimize damage to property and people.
One of the most renowned innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC) which will prevent collisions between trains and train, situations where trains are on tracks where they shouldn't be and other accidents resulting from human errors. It is a three-part system comprised of onboard locomotive systems that track the train and wayside networks that connect with the locomotive and a massive backend server that analyzes and collects data.
Railroads that transport passengers are also embracing technology to bolster safety and security. For instance, Amtrak is experimenting with the use of drones to assist passenger security personnel in finding passengers and items on board trains in the event of an emergency. Amtrak is also investigating other possibilities to utilize drones, for instance, using drones to inspect bridges and other infrastructure like replacing the lighting on railway towers, which can be hazardous for workers to climb.
Other technologies that could be utilized for railways for passengers 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 travel. These technologies are especially useful for detecting unauthorized crossings or other issues in the evenings when traffic is less and there are less witnesses to an accident.
Another important technological advancement in the railway industry is telematics which allows railroads, shippers and other stakeholders to see the status and condition of a traincar via real-time tracking. These capabilities provide railcar operators and their crews more accountability and visibility and can aid in improving efficiency, prevent unnecessary maintenance and avoid delays in delivering freight to customers.
