14 Questions You Shouldn't Be Afraid To Ask About Federal Railroad

The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for rail safety regulations and enforcement, rail funding and research on rail improvement strategies.

FRA field inspectors use discretion to determine which cases merit the precise and time-consuming civil penalty process. This discretion helps to ensure that the most serious violations are penalized.

Allies and members of SMART-TD made history in 2024 when they began pushing the FRA to allow two people in the cabs of locomotives of freight trains. The fight isn't over.

Safety

The Federal Railroad Administration has a range of safety measures in place to safeguard the health and safety of employees and the public. It is responsible for creating and enforcing regulations for rail safety. It also administers the funding for rail and conducts research on rail improvement strategies and technological developments. It also formulates and implements a plan to ensure that current infrastructure, rail services and capacity and strategically expands and improves the national rail network. The department expects all railroad employers to abide by strict rules and regulations, empower their workers and provide them with the tools needed to be successful and secure. This includes taking part in the secure close call reporting system, setting up occupational health and safety committees that have full union participation and protection against retaliation and providing employees with needed personal protective equipment.

FRA inspectors are on the front lines of enforcement of rail safety regulations and laws. They conduct routine inspections of equipment and conduct a myriad of investigations of complaints of noncompliance. Civil penalties are imposed on those who violate railroad safety laws. Safety inspectors at the agency have wide discretion to determine if violations fall within the statutory definition of an act that is punishable with civil penalties. The Office of Chief Counsel's safety division also scrutinizes the reports submitted by regional offices to determine if they are legal before assessing penalties. The exercise of this discretion at the regional and field levels helps ensure that the time-consuming, costly civil penalty process is applied only in those situations that are truly deserving of the effect of a civil fine.

Rail employees must be aware of the rules and regulations that govern his or her actions and be aware of the guidelines to commit a criminal offense that is punishable by a civil penalty. However the agency does not consider anyone who acts under a directive by a supervisor as having committed a willful violation. The agency defines "general railroad system" as the entire system that transports passengers and goods within and between metropolitan areas and cities. A plant railroad's trackage in a steel mill is not considered to be part of the general transportation system that trains, even being physically connected to it.

Regulation

The Federal Railroad Administration sets train regulations, ranging from those related to safety and the movement of hazardous materials. The agency is responsible for managing railway finance, including grants and loan for infrastructure and service improvement. The agency collaborates with other DOT agencies and industry to develop strategies for improving the rail system of the United States. This includes maintaining current rail infrastructure and services and making sure that there is enough capacity strategically expanding the network as well as coordinating regional and national systems planning and development.

While the majority of the agency's work is focused on freight transportation, it also manages the transportation of passengers. The agency is aiming to provide more options for passenger travel and connect people with the places they want to travel to. The agency's focus is on improving the experience of passengers as well as enhancing the safety of its current fleet, and making sure that the rail network is operating efficiently.

Railroads must comply with many federal regulations, relating to the size of crews on trains. In recent years, this issue has become a source of controversy. Certain states have passed legislation requiring two-person crews in trains. This final rule outlines the minimum crew size requirements at a federal level, ensuring that all railroads are subject to the same safety standards.

This law also requires that each railroad operating with a crew of one notify FRA and submit an analysis of risk. This will allow FRA to identify the specific parameters of each operation and compare them to the standard two-person crew operation. This rule also alters the criteria for reviewing a special approval request from determining if an operation is "consistent" with railroad safety to determining if the operation is as safe or safer than two-person crew operations.

During the public comment period for this rule, a large number of people backed the requirement of a two-person crew. In a letter to the editor, 29 people expressed their concerns that a single member of the crew will not be in a position to respond in a timely manner to train accidents or malfunctions at grade crossings or assist emergency personnel on a highway-rail level crossing. The commenters pointed out that human factors are responsible for more than half railroad accidents and believe that a larger crew would help ensure the safety of the train and its cargo.

Technology

Railroads for passenger and freight use numerous technologies to enhance efficiency, increase safety, boost security and much more. Rail industry jargon covers many unique terms and acronyms. Some of the most prominent include machine vision systems (also called drones) and rail-inspection systems that are instrumented, driverless train rolling data centers and unmanned aerial vehicles (also known as drones).

Technology isn't merely replacing jobs, it's also empowering people to do their job more efficiently and with greater security. Railroads that transport passengers are using smartphones apps and contactless fare payment cards in order to boost ridership and improve the efficiency of the system. Other innovations like autonomous rail cars are coming closer to reality.

The Federal Railroad Administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to improve secure affordable, reliable, and secure transportation in the United States is focusing on modernizing the rail infrastructure.  fela claims -billion-dollar effort 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 increase the agency's rail improvement programs.

The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a major element in this effort. The National Academies' recent review of the office revealed that it excelled at engaging, maintaining communication with and using inputs from a broad range of stakeholders. However, it needs to focus more on how its research aids in the department's main objective of ensuring the safe transportation of goods and people via rail.

One area in which the agency may be able to improve its effectiveness is in identifying and supporting the development of automated train technology and systems. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is the principal 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 in order to help create standards within the industry.

FRA will be interested in the group's development of an automated rail taxonomy. It is a system of standards to clearly and consistently define different levels of automation that would be applicable to both rail and on-road transit vehicles. The agency would like to know the level of risk the industry sees in fully automated operation, and if the industry is considering additional safeguards to minimize the risk.

Innovation

Rail companies are embracing technology to improve worker safety, boost efficiency in business processes, and ensure that the cargo they transport arrives at its destination in good condition. These innovations range from sensors and cameras that monitor freight to innovative railcar designs that help keep dangerous cargo safe during transportation. Some of these technologies even provide a way for railroads to send emergency responders to the scene of an accident so they can swiftly mitigate damage and minimize risk to property and people.

One of the most prominent innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC), which will inhibit collisions between trains and trains, situations in which trains are on tracks where they shouldn't be, and other accidents resulting from human mistakes. The system is comprised of three parts: onboard locomotive systems which track the train; wayside networks that communicate with the locomotive and a huge server that gathers and analyzes data.

Trains for passengers also adopt technology to improve safety and security. For instance, Amtrak is experimenting with drones to assist passenger security staff in locating passengers and other items onboard trains in case in an emergency. The company is also looking into other possibilities to utilize drones, including deploying drones to conduct inspections of bridges as well as other infrastructure, such as replacing the lighting on railway towers that could be dangerous for workers to climb.

Smart track technology is another technology that is used in railways that transport passengers. It is able to detect people or objects on tracks and warn drivers that it is unsafe to continue. These technologies are especially useful in detecting crossings that are not authorized or other issues in the evenings when the traffic is lower and there are less witnesses to an accident.

Telematics is yet another significant technological advance in the railway industry. It lets railways, shippers, and other stakeholders to follow a traincar's progress in real-time. These capabilities give railcar owners and their crews more accountability and visibility and can aid in improving efficiency, avoid unnecessary maintenance, and prevent delays in the delivery of freight to customers.