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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 purpose is to ensure the safe and reliable movement of goods and people.

FRA field inspectors routinely inspect railroad tracks, signals and train control systems, as well as operating procedures. They also investigate complaints.

Definition

A federal railroad is a rail carrier in the United States that is controlled by the government. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) creates and enforces railway safety regulations, administers railroad funding, and researches ways to improve rail transportation systems. The FRA is one of the 10 agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation that is concerned with intermodal transportation, and its chief executive officers are the Administrator and Deputy Administrator.

The agency is responsible for all freight and passenger transport that is conducted through the nation's rail network. Additionally the agency supports the rehabilitation of Northeast Corridor rail passenger service and consolidates the government's support for rail transportation. In addition, the agency oversees the management and ownership of all intermodal facilities such as tracks, rights-of-way, equipment, real property and rolling stock, and also provides the overall coordination of federal rail transportation programs.

The FRA's duties include establishing, through regulation, following an opportunity for notice and comment, a process by which anyone can submit a make a complaint to the Secretary of Homeland Security concerning railroad security problems or inconsistencies. Additionally, the FRA sets up policies and conducts inspections to determine the compliance with its rail safety regulations in six technical disciplines that include track signal and train control motive power and equipment, operating practices, hazmat, and highway-rail grade crossings.

The agency has the responsibility of ensuring that the railway transportation system operates in a secure, efficient and sustainable way. In turn, the agency requires railroads to provide a safe working environment and provide the appropriate training to their employees. The agency also determines and enforces the cost of railroad services to ensure that the public is charged fair prices for transportation services.

In addition, the Federal Railroad Administration enacts and enforces rules to stop discrimination against railroad workers, as well as protects whistleblowers from retaliation from railroad carriers. The agency also has a procedure by which railroad employees can file complaints regarding the company's actions.

The agency's main mission is to ensure safe, reliable and efficient transportation of people and goods for a strong America now and in future. The FRA accomplishes this by controlling safety of railroads, coordinating railroad assistance programs and conducting research that supports better safety of railroads and national rail transportation policies and coordination, as well as supporting rail networking development and assisting the private sector manage railroads. In the past, railroads dominated the market with little competition. This meant that the industry often abused its position in the market. Congress established the Interstate Commerce Commission, as along with other regulatory agencies, to curb the monopolies' exploitation of railroads.

Purpose

The federal railroad is a federal agency that establishes regulations, manages funds for rail and studies ways to improve the nation's rail transportation system. It is responsible for the railroad infrastructure of the United States and manages freight and passenger railroads. It is one of 10 agencies in the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also responsible for maintaining and expanding the current rail systems.

Safety is the government's main responsibility when it comes to rail transportation. The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for this. It has several divisions which oversee the country's freight and passenger railroad operations. The Office of Railroad Safety is the largest of these, with around 350 inspectors. It is responsible for conducting safety inspections in six technical disciplines, including track, signal, and train control equipment and motives, operating procedures, hazmat, and highway-rail grade crosses.

FRA has several departments, including the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This department oversees programs that aim at enhancing passenger and freight railway transport, including the Northeast Corridor Future. This department is responsible for the grants given to railways and works with other agencies in order to determine the nation's rail requirements.

Another essential duty of the FRA is the enforcement of federal laws pertaining to railroads and their employees. This includes preventing railroads to discriminate against workers and ensuring that all injured railway staff are transported to the nearest hospital to receive treatment. The law also prohibits railroads from refusing or delaying medical treatment for injured railway workers.

The FRA is the primary regulator of the passenger and freight rail industries, but there are other organizations which manage the economic aspects of rail transport. Surface Transportation Board is responsible for establishing rates and managing the economics of the industry. It is the regulatory authority for railroad mergers, line-sales construction and abandonment. After a period of public consultation the agency is accountable for establishing regulations that will allow anyone to file a complaint about any alleged rail safety violations.

Functions

Rails transport goods and people from and to cities in the developed world as well as villages in less developed countries. They transport raw materials to processing and manufacturing plants, and federal employers liability act finished products from these factories to warehouses and stores. Railroads are a vital mode of transportation for many essential commodities, such as coal, oil and grains. In 2020, freight railroads moved more than a quarter of all freight volumes in the United States [PDFThe PDF file contains more information about.

A federal railroad operates just like any other company, with departments for marketing, sales, operations and an executive department. The department for marketing and sales talks with customers and potential clients to determine the services they need and how much they should cost. The operations department then produces rail services that meet these requirements at the lowest cost possible to generate revenue for railroads. The executive department supervises the entire operation and ensures that each department is operating efficiently.

The government supports railways in a variety of ways from grants to subsidised rates for shipping government traffic. Congress also provides funds to help build new stations and tracks. These subsidy funds are often added to the money that railroads earn through ticket sales and freight contracts.

Amtrak is owned by the United States government. It is a quasi-public for-profit corporation with a large shareholder that is the United States government.

A key function of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is to develop and enforce safety regulations for railroads. This includes regulating the mechanical state of trains as well as the health and safety of railroad employees. FRA also collects data about rail security to identify trends and areas that require improvement or attention from the regulatory side and to determine trends.

In addition to these core functions, FRA works on various other projects aimed at improving the security and economy of railroad transportation in the United States. For instance, the agency seeks to eliminate obstacles that could hinder railroads' implementation of positive train control systems (PTC). PTC is a safety technology that makes use of sensors and computers to stop a train automatically when it is too close to an object or vehicle.

History

The nation's first railroads were built in the 1820s and 1830s largely in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. The railroads increased industrialization and brought more food products to markets in these regions. This helped the country to become more self-sufficient and less dependent on foreign imports, which helped to foster a strong economic base.

In the latter part of the 19th century, the railroad industry enjoyed a "Golden Age" that saw new, more efficient rail lines were constructed and passenger travel became popular. The government's efforts to expand the fela claims railroad employees system were a major aspect. For instance the government offered land grants to homesteaders to encourage them to settle in the West and the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads worked together to complete the first transcontinental railroad, which allowed travel from New York to San Francisco in six days.

However, in the first half of the 20th century, the demand for passenger railroad services declined and other transportation options like automobiles and planes gained in popularity, while stifling regulations choked railroads in their ability to compete economically. A series of bankruptcies and delays in maintenance and service cuts were the result. Misguided federal rail regulations also contributed to the decline.

Around the year 1970, the federal government began loosening the regulations governing railroads. Surface Transportation Board was created to oversee economic aspects such as railroad rates and mergers. The Federal Railroad Administration, which supervises freight and passenger transportation and sets rail safety standards, was also created.

Since then, the infrastructure of the railroads of the United America has seen a great deal of investment. The Northeast Corridor has been rebuilt for instance, in order to accommodate faster and more modern high-speed ground transportation (HSGT). There are also efforts to create more efficient freight rail. In the future, FRA hopes to continue its partnership with all transportation agencies in order to ensure safe and reliable railroads. It is the responsibility of FRA to help make sure that the nation's transportation system operates as efficiently as it can.