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The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology
The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for the safety of rail, regulations and enforcement, rail funding and research on rail improvement strategies.
FRA field inspectors employ discretion to decide which cases warrant the exact and time-consuming civil penalty process. This discretion helps to ensure that the most serious violations are punished.
Members of SMART-TD and their allies made history in 2024 by pushing the FRA to allow two people in the locomotive cab of freight trains. The fight continues.
Safety
The Federal Railroad Administration has a variety of safety measures in place to safeguard the health and safety of employees as well as the general public. It is responsible for creating and enforcing rail safety regulations. It also oversees rail funding and conducts research on improvements to rail strategies and technologies. It also creates and implements a strategy to ensure the current infrastructure, rail services and capacity and strategically expands and enhances the national rail network. The department demands that all rail operators adhere to strict rules that empower their employees and provide them with the tools to ensure their safety and success. This includes a confidential close-call reporting system, creating labor-management occupational safety and health committees with full-union participation and antiretaliation provisions and giving employees the necessary personal protective equipment.
Inspectors of the FRA are at the forefront of enforcing safety on rail laws and regulations. They perform routine inspections on equipment and investigate hundreds of complaints. Those who violate the safety rules for rail can be penalized civilly. Safety inspectors from the agency have a wide discretion to determine if a violation falls under the definition provided by law of an act punishable with civil penalties. The Office of Chief Counsel's safety division also scrutinizes the reports that regional offices submit to determine if 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 convicted of a civil offense an employee of a railroad must know the rules and regulations that govern their actions. They must also be aware of and not adhere to these rules. However the agency does not take any person who is acting under a direction from a supervisor to have committed an intentional violation. The agency defines the "general railroad system of transportation" as the whole network that allows passengers and goods to 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 overall transportation system by rail, even although it is physically connected to it.
Regulation
The Federal Railroad Administration sets train regulations, including those pertaining to safety and the movement of hazardous materials. The agency also oversees rail financing including loans and grants for improvements to infrastructure and service. The agency collaborates with other DOT agencies and the industry to develop strategies to improve the nation's railroad system. This includes maintaining current rail infrastructure and services, in addition to addressing the need for additional capacity and strategically expanding the network, and coordinating regional and national systems planning and development.
The agency is primarily responsible for freight transportation, but also oversees passenger transport. The agency is aiming to provide more options for passenger travel and connect people with the places they'd like to go. The agency's focus is on improving the passenger's experience, enhancing safety of the existing fleet and ensuring the rail network continues operating efficiently.
Railroads must abide by a variety of federal regulations, including those related to the size of crews on trains. In recent times the issue has become controversial. Some states have passed legislation requiring two-person teams on trains. The final rule codifies the minimum requirements for crew size at the federal level, making sure that all railroads are held to the same safety standards.
This rule also requires each railroad that operates a one-person train crew to notify FRA of the operation and submit an assessment of risk. This will enable FRA to compare the parameters of each operation to those of a two-person standard crew operation. Additionally, this rule changes the review standard for a special approval petition from determining whether the 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, many people supported the requirement of a two-person crew. A form letter sent by 29 people expressed their concern that a single crew member would not be as quick to respond to train-related malfunctions or crossing incidents or assist emergency response personnel at a highway-rail grade crossing. Commenters emphasized that human factors are responsible 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
Railroads for passenger and freight use a wide array of technologies to increase efficiency, improve safety, boost security and more. Rail industry jargon includes a variety of 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 vehicles (also known as drones).
Technology isn't just replacing certain jobs; it's helping individuals to perform their work better and safer. fela lawyer that transport passengers are using smartphones and contactless fare payment cards in order to boost ridership and improve the efficiency of the system. Other developments, like autonomous rail vehicles, are moving closer to becoming a reality.
The Federal Railroad Administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to ensure safe reliable, affordable, and cost-effective transportation in America, is focused on modernizing the rail infrastructure. This multi-billion dollar project will see bridges, tunnels tracks, power systems, and tracks upgraded and stations being rebuilt or replaced. FRA's recently passed bipartisan infrastructure law will dramatically grow the agency's rail improvement programs.
The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a key component of this effort. The National Academies' recent review of the office concluded that it was successful in keeping in touch using inputs from a broad range of stakeholders. But it still needs to be more focused on how its research helps the department achieve its primary strategic goal of ensuring the safe movement of goods and people via railway.
The agency could enhance its efficiency by identifying and supporting 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 and policy, as well as standard setting created a Technical Advisory Group for Autonomous Train Operations to help create standards within the industry.
FRA is interested in the development of an automated rail taxonomy, which is a standardization system that can clearly and consistently define different levels of automation that could be applicable to both on-road and rail transit vehicles. The agency will also want to understand the level of safety risk that the industry perceives associated with implementing fully automated operation and whether the industry is contemplating additional security measures to reduce the risk.
Innovation
Railroads are adopting technology to increase worker safety and make business processes more efficient and ensure that the freight they move reaches its destination intact. Examples of this kind of technological advancement vary from the use sensors and cameras to track freight, to the latest railcar designs that keep hazardous cargo safe during transit. Some of these technologies allow railroads send emergency responders directly to the scene of an accident to minimize risk and minimize damage to people and property.
One of the most well-known innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC) which will prevent collisions between trains and train, situations where trains are on tracks that shouldn't be, as well as other accidents resulting from human error. This system consists of three parts of onboard locomotive systems that track the train; wayside networks which communicate with the locomotive; and a huge server that collects and analyses data.
Railroads that transport passengers also use technology to enhance safety and security. Amtrak, for example, is experimenting with the use of drones in order to help train security personnel locate passengers and items in an emergency. The company is also looking into other possibilities to utilize drones, such as using drones to inspect bridges and other infrastructure like replacing the lights on railway towers that could be dangerous for workers to climb.
Other technologies that can be utilized for passenger railroads include smart track technology that can detect the presence of objects or people on the tracks and send an alert to drivers when it's unsafe to proceed. These kinds of technologies can be particularly useful in detecting crossings that are not authorized and other issues in the off-hours, when traffic is at its lowest and fewer people are around to witness an accident.
Telematics is a significant technological advancement in the railway industry. It lets railways, shippers, and other stakeholders to follow a traincar's progress in real-time. Traincar crews and operators can benefit from greater accountability and transparency, which will help them to increase efficiency and avoid unnecessary maintenance. It will also help avoid delays when delivering freight.
