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The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

The Federal Railroad Administration creates and enforces safety regulations for rail It also provides rail funding and researches rail improvement strategies.

FRA inspectors on the ground make use of discretion to determine which cases merit the time-consuming and precise civil penalty procedure. This allows them to ensure that those violations most deserving of punishment are penalized.

SMART-TD, along with its allies, made history by 2024 when they convinced the FRA that two people should be allowed in the locomotive cabs of freight trains. The fight isn't over.

Safety

The Federal Railroad Administration implements a number of safety measures to safeguard the health of employees as well as the public. It develops and enforces safety regulations for rail as well as manages funding for rail and researches strategies for improving rail and new technologies. It also formulates and implements a strategy to ensure that current infrastructure, rail services and capacity and strategically expands and improves the national rail network. The department requires all rail employers to abide by strict rules and regulations, empower their workers and provide them with tools to be successful and safe. This includes the confidential close-call reporting system, creating labor-management occupational safety and health committees that have full participation from unions and anti-retaliation clauses and giving employees the necessary personal protective equipment.

FRA inspectors are on the front lines of enforcement of the rail safety laws and regulations. They conduct regular inspections of equipment and Fela lawyer conduct hundreds of investigations into complaints of noncompliance. Anyone who violates the rail safety laws could be punished with civil penalties. Safety inspectors from the agency have broad discretion over whether an incident falls within the statutory description of a crime that is punishable by civil penalties. The Office of Chief Counsel's safety division also examines all reports submitted by regional offices 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 governing the conduct of his or her employees. They must also knowingly disregard these standards. The agency does not consider that a person who acts upon a directive from a supervisor is guilty of committing a willful crime. The agency defines "general railroad system" as the entire system that carries goods and passengers between cities and metropolitan areas. The trackage of a plant railroad within the steel mill is not considered to be part of the general rail transportation system, even though it's physically connected.

Regulation

The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for establishing regulations for trains, such as those relating to safety and the movement of hazardous substances. The agency also manages financing for rail which includes loans and grants for infrastructure and service improvements. The agency works with other DOT agencies and industry to devise strategies to improve the rail system of the United States. This includes maintaining the current rail infrastructure and services, addressing the needs for new capacity and expanding the network strategically, and coordinating the national and regional system planning and development.

While the majority of the agency's activities are focused on freight transportation, it also oversees the transportation of passengers. The agency is trying to connect people to places they want and provide more choices for travel. The agency's primary focus is on improving the experience of passengers, enhancing safety of the existing fleet, and ensuring that the rail network continues operating efficiently.

Railroads must adhere to a number of federal regulations, including those pertaining to the size of the crews on trains. This is an issue of contention in recent years, with a few states enacting legislation that requires two-person crews on trains. This final rule codifies federally the minimum size crew requirements, ensuring that all railroads adhere to the same safety standards.

This also requires every railroad that has one-person train crews to notify FRA of the operation and submit a risk assessment. This will enable FRA to evaluate the characteristics of each operation to those of a two-person standard crew operation. This rule also changes the criteria for reviewing 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 operations.

During the public comment period on this rule, a large number of people expressed support for the requirement for a two-person crew. A letter written 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 noted that human factors are responsible for more than half all railroad accidents. They believe that a larger crew will ensure the safety of the train as well as its cargo.

Technology

Freight and passenger rails employ various technologies to improve efficiency, increase safety, and boost security. Rail industry jargon includes various distinct terms and acronyms. Some of the most notable include machine vision systems (also known as drones) and rail-inspection systems that are instrumented driverless trains rolling data centers and unmanned aerial vehicles (also called drones).

Technology isn't only able to replace certain jobs. It empowers people to perform their jobs better and safer. Railroads for passengers use apps on smartphones and contactless fare cards in order to increase passengership and boost the efficiency of their system. Other developments, like autonomous rail vehicles, are inching closer to reality.

As part of its ongoing efforts to improve 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 effort that will see bridges and tunnels repaired as well as tracks and power systems upgraded, and stations reconstructed or upgraded. The FRA's rail improvements program will be significantly extended by the recently passed bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a central component of this effort. The National Academies' recent review of the office found that it was successful in engaging, maintaining communication with and using inputs from a broad range of stakeholders. But it still needs to be more focused on how its research contributes to the department's primary objective of ensuring the safe transportation of goods and people by rail.

One area where the agency could be able to increase its effectiveness is in identifying and assisting the advancement of automated train technology and systems. The Association of American Railroads, the freight rail industry's primary business organization that is focused on policy, research and standard-setting the Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to assist in the development of industry standards to implement the technology.

The FRA is interested in the development of a taxonomy to describe automated rail vehicles, a system that defines clearly and consistently the different levels of automation. This could apply to rail transit as well as vehicles on the road. The agency will also want to know the level of safety risk that the industry sees with the introduction of fully automated operation and whether or not the industry is considering adding additional protections to minimize the risk.

Innovation

Rail companies are adopting new technologies to enhance worker safety, boost efficiency in business processes and ensure that the cargo they transport reaches its destination in good condition. These innovations include cameras and sensors that monitor freight to new railcar designs that help keep dangerous cargo safe during transport. Certain of these technologies enable railroads to dispatch emergency personnel directly to the scene of an accident to minimize danger and minimize the damage to people and property.

Positive Train Control (PTC) is among the most significant innovations in rail. It is designed to keep train-to-train accidents out of the way, as well as situations where trains are on track they shouldn't, and other incidents caused by human errors. This system consists of three parts: onboard locomotive systems which track the train; wayside networks that communicate with the locomotive and a huge server that analyzes and collects data.

Railroads that transport passengers also use technology to enhance security and safety. For instance, Amtrak is experimenting with the use of drones to aid security personnel in finding passengers and items on board trains in the event of an emergency. The company is also looking into different ways to use drones, such as using them to perform inspections of bridges as well as other infrastructure, for example, replacing the lighting on railway towers that could be hazardous for workers to climb.

Smart track technology is a different technology that can be utilized 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 types of technologies are particularly valuable for detecting unauthorized crossings and other problems in the off-hours, when traffic is at its lowest and fewer people are around to witness an accident.

Another important technological advancement in the rail industry is telematics which allows shippers, railroads and other stakeholders to see a traincar's status and condition by real-time tracking. These capabilities give railcar owners and crews better accountability and transparency and assist them in improving efficiency, prevent unnecessary maintenance and avoid delays in delivering freight to customers.