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The Federal Railroad Administration
The Federal Railroad Administration is one of the DOT's 10 agencies that deal with intermodal transportation. Its mission is enabling the secure and reliable transportation of both people and goods.
FRA field inspectors regularly inspect railroad track, signal and train control systems, as and operating practices. They also investigate complaints.
Definition
Federal railroads are rail carriers in the United States controlled by the federal government. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is responsible for the creation and enforcement of railway safety rules, oversees railway funding, and studies ways to improve the efficiency of rail transportation systems. The FRA is one of the 10 agencies within the U.S. fela claims of Transportation that are 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 is made possible by the railway system of the United States. The agency also coordinates the funding provided by the federal government for rail transportation, and helps with the rehabilitation of the Northeast Corridor passenger service. Additionally, the agency oversees the operation and ownership of all intermodal facilities, such as tracks, rights-of-way, equipment, real property and rolling stock, and provides the overall coordination of federal rail transportation programs.
FRA's duties also include establishing through regulation and following an opportunity to comment, a procedure by which anyone can report to the Secretary Homeland Security any railroad security problems or issues. In addition, the agency creates policies and conducts inspections to determine compliance with its rail safety laws in six technical disciplines that include track signal and train control, motive power and machinery, operating practices, hazmat, and highway-rail grade crossings.
The agency is tasked with the responsibility of making sure the railroad transportation system is safe, economical and environmentally sustainable. In turn, the agency requires railroads to ensure an environment that is safe for workers and provide adequate training for their employees. The agency also determines and enforces the cost of railroad services to ensure that the public is billed fairly for transportation services.
In addition the Federal Railroad Administration enacts and enforces regulations to prevent discrimination against railroad workers, and also protects whistleblowers from being retaliated against by railroad carriers. The agency also establishes an avenue for railroad employees to file complaints about the conduct of the company.
The primary goal of the agency is to ensure secure, reliable and efficient transportation of people and goods for a stronger America today and in the future. The FRA accomplishes this through regulating railroad safety, managing programs for assistance to railroads, conducting research to support better safety of railroads and national rail transportation policies and coordination, as well as supporting rail networking development, and helping the private sector manage railroads. In the past, railroads dominated the market with little competition. As a result, the industry often abused its position in the marketplace. This is why Congress established the Interstate Commerce Commission and other regulatory agencies to prevent the abuses of railroad monopolies.
Purpose
The federal railroad is a government agency that establishes rules, oversees funds for rail and studies ways to improve the nation's rail transportation system. It supervises freight and passenger railroads and manages the nation's rail infrastructure. It is one of ten agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also tasked with maintaining and expanding existing rail systems, as well as ensuring the ability of the rail industry to meet the growing demand for freight and travel, as well as providing leadership in national and regional system planning.
Safety is the main responsibility when it comes to rail transportation. The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for this. It has a variety of divisions that oversee the country's passenger and freight rail operations. The Office of Railroad Safety is the largest of them, with around 350 inspectors. It is responsible for conducting safety inspections in six different technical disciplines, including track, signalling, train control equipment and motives, operating procedures, hazmat, and highway-rail grade crosses.
FRA has various departments, including the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This department is responsible for programs aimed to improve passenger and freight rail transport, such as the Northeast Corridor Future. This department is responsible for granting grants for railways and collaborates with other agencies in order to plan the nation's rail requirements.
The FRA also has a duty to enforce federal laws related to railroads and workers. This includes preventing railroads from discriminate against employees and making sure that injured railway employees are taken to the nearest hospital to receive treatment. The law also prohibits railroads from denying or delaying medical care to injured railway workers.
The FRA is the main regulator of the freight and passenger rail industries, but there are other organizations which manage the economic aspects of rail transportation. Surface Transportation Board is responsible for determining rates and governing economics in the sector. It is also the regulator for railroad mergers, line-sales, construction and abandonment. After an open consultation period, the agency is also responsible for establishing regulations that permit anyone to report any alleged safety issues with rail.
Functions
Rails transport people and goods from and to cities in the developed world as well as villages in countries that are less developed. They transport raw materials from processing and manufacturing facilities, and then finished goods from these facilities to stores or warehouses. Railroads are a critical form of transportation for a variety of essential commodities, such as coal, oil and grains. In 2020, freight rail carried over a quarter of the nation's total freight volumes [PDFThe PDF file contains.
The federal railroad is run like any other business. It has departments for marketing and sale, operations, and an executive department. The department for marketing and sales works with potential and current customers to determine what kind of rail services they require and what those services should cost. The operations department then develops rail services that meet these needs at the cheapest cost to generate revenue for railroads. The executive department oversees the entire operation and makes sure that each department is operating efficiently.
The government helps the railways with a variety methods, including grants and subsidized rates for government-owned traffic. Congress also provides funds to support and build new tracks and stations. These subsidy funds are often added to the revenues that railroads receive through tickets and freight contracts.
In the United States, the government has the passenger railway Amtrak. It is a quasi-public, for-profit corporation with a significant shareholder that is the United States government.
A major role of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is developing and enforcing safety regulations for railroads. This involves regulating the mechanical condition of trains and the health and safety of railroad employees. FRA also collects data about rail security to identify patterns areas that require improvement or regulatory attention and to track trends.
In addition to these primary duties, FRA works on various other projects aimed at improving the economy and security of railroad transportation in the United States. For instance, the agency is working to eliminate obstacles that hinder railroads in adopting positive train control (PTC). PTC is a safety technology that utilizes sensors and computers on board to stop a train in the event that it is too close to an vehicle or object.
History
In the 1820s-1830s the first railroads in America were built, mostly in New England and Mid-Atlantic. The railroads greatly accelerated industrialization in those areas, and also brought more food products to the market. This allowed the country become more self-sufficient and less dependent on imports.
In the late nineteenth century the railroad industry went through an "Golden Age," during which many new trains that were more efficient were built, and passenger travel by train became more popular. This was in large part because of the government's efforts to expand the railroad system. The government, for instance provided land grants to homesteaders in order to encourage them to settle in the West. Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads also collaborated to build the first transcontinental railway, which allowed passengers to travel from New York City to San Francisco in just six days.
In the first half century however the demand for passenger rail services declined, and other modes of transportation like planes and cars became more popular. Meanwhile, stifling regulation hindered railroads' ability to compete. A string of bankruptcies, service cuts and deferred maintenance followed. Additionally, a misguided railroad regulations from the federal government contributed to the decline of the railroad industry.
Around 1970, federal government began loosening the restrictions on railroads' regulatory requirements. Surface Transportation Board was created to oversee economic aspects such as railroad rates and mergers. The Federal Railroad Administration was also established to set rules for safety in rail and is one of 10 agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation that oversees freight and passenger transportation.
Since then, the railway infrastructure of the United States has seen a significant amount of investment. The Northeast Corridor has been rebuilt, for instance, to accommodate faster and more modern high-speed ground transportation (HSGT). There have also been efforts to create more efficient systems for freight rail. FRA hopes to continue to work with all transportation agencies to ensure reliable and safe rails in the coming years. It is the responsibility of FRA to help make sure that the transportation system of the United States operates as efficiently as possible.
