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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 safe and reliable transportation of people and goods.

FRA field inspectors regularly check railroad track, signal and train control systems as well as operating practices. They also investigate complaints.

Definition

A federal railroad is a railway in the United States that is controlled by the government. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, develops and enforces railway regulations, administers railroad funds, and conducts research to improve railway transportation. The FRA is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's intermodal transportation division, and its chief executives are the Administrator and the Deputy Administrator.

The agency supervises all freight and passenger transport that uses the nation's railway network. The agency also coordinates the funding provided by the federal government for rail transportation and assists in the rehabilitation of the Northeast Corridor passenger service. Moreover, the agency regulates the management and ownership of all intermodal facilities such as tracks, right-of-way equipment and real property as well as rolling stock. It also handles the overall coordination of federal rail transportation programs.

The FRA's responsibilities are to establish through regulation, after opportunity for notice and comment, a process by anyone can report to the Secretary of Homeland Security concerning railroad security issues or deficiencies. Additionally, the FRA sets up policies and conducts inspections to determine 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 rail transportation system is secure, economical and sustainable. The agency also requires that railroads to provide a safe working environment and provide adequate training for their employees. Furthermore, the agency sets and regulates railroad rates to ensure that the public gets a fair rate for their transportation services.

Additionally the Federal Railroad Administration enacts and enforces rules to stop discrimination against railroad workers, as well as protects whistleblowers from retaliation by fela claims railroad employees carriers. The agency also has a complaint procedure for railroad employees to file complaints about the conduct of the company.

The agency's main mission is to ensure secure, reliable and efficient movement of goods and people for a strong America both now and in the future. The FRA achieves this by overseeing the safety of railroads, regulating programs for assistance to railroads, conducting research to support better safety of railroads and national rail transportation policy and coordination, as well as supporting the development of a rail network, and helping the private sector manage railroads. In the past, railroads were huge monopolies that had no competition. As a result, railroads often misused their position in the market. Congress established the Interstate Commerce Commission, as well as other regulatory agencies to control railroad monopolies' abuses.

Purpose

Federal railroads are government-owned agencies that establish rules, regulate funds for rail and conduct research to improve the rail system in the United America. It operates the railway infrastructure of the United States and manages passenger and freight railroads. It is one of ten agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also responsible for maintaining and expanding the current railroad systems.

Safety is the main responsibility in rail transportation. The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for this. It has a variety of divisions that oversee the country's passenger and freight railway operations. The Office of Railroad Safety is the largest of these, with around 350 inspectors. It is responsible for conducting safety inspections across six technical disciplines, which include track, signal, and train control as well as motive and equipment operating procedures, hazmat, and highway-rail grade crosses.

FRA has other departments which include the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This oversees the programs designed to improve freight and passenger railway transportation, including the Northeast Corridor Future. The department is also in charge of the grants that railways and works with other agencies to develop plans for the nation's rail requirements.

The FRA also has a duty to enforce federal laws related to railroads and workers. This includes stopping railroads from discriminating against employees and ensuring that all railway employees injured are transported to the nearest hospital for initial aid treatment. Additionally, railroads are prohibited from denying or delaying medical treatment for injured railway employees.

The FRA is the main regulator of the passenger and freight rail industries, but there are other organizations that manage the economic aspects of rail transportation. The Surface Transportation Board, for instance, is in charge of setting rates and governing the economics of the industry. It is also the regulator for railroad mergers, line-sales, construction, and abandonment. Other responsibilities include establishing rules after a public input opportunity and participation, where anyone can complain about alleged safety violations to the agency.

Functions

Railroads carry people and goods to and from cities in the developed nations, as and remote villages in countries that are less developed. They transport raw materials to processing and manufacturing factories, and the finished products from these facilities to warehouses and stores. Rail is an essential mode of transportation for a variety of essential commodities like oil, grains and coal. In 2020, freight rail transported over a quarter of the nation's total freight volumes [PDFThe PDF file contains.

A federal railroad operates like any other business with departments for marketing, operations, sales, and an executive department. The marketing and sales department works with current and potential customers to determine the kind of rail services they need and what those services should cost. The operations department then creates rail services that meet these needs at the cheapest cost to make money for railroads. The executive department oversees the entire operation and ensures that each department is operating efficiently.

The government helps the railways by a variety of ways such as grants and subsidised rates for government traffic. Congress also provides funds to help build new track and stations. These subsidies are often added to the money that railroads earn through tickets and freight contracts.

Amtrak is owned by the United States government. It is a quasi-public for-profit corporation, which has the United States Government as a major stockholder.

The Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) main function is to develop and enforce safety regulations for railroads. This includes regulating the mechanical state of trains, as well as the safety and health of railroad employees. FRA also collects data on rail security to identify patterns areas that require improvement or attention from regulators and to track trends.

FRA also participates in other projects that help improve the economy and safety of rail transportation in the United States. For instance, FRA seeks to lower the obstacles that can hinder railroads in implementing positive train control (PTC). PTC is a security technology that makes use of sensors and computers to stop a train in the event that it is too close to an vehicle or object.

History

In the 1820s and 1830s, the first railroads in the United States were constructed, mostly in New England and Mid-Atlantic. Railroads significantly accelerated industrialization in these regions and also brought more food items to the market. This allowed the country to become more independent and less dependent on imports from abroad, which in turn contributed to a stronger economic base.

In the 19th century's final years the railroad industry enjoyed a "Golden Age" during which new, more efficient raillines were built and passenger travel became popular. The government's efforts to expand the railroad system were a major aspect. For example the government offered homesteaders grants of land 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 made it possible to travel from New York to San Francisco in just six days.

In the first half century however, the demand for rail passenger services dwindled, while other modes of transportation like planes and automobiles became more popular. In the meantime, the stifling of regulation stifled railroads' economic ability to compete. The industry was plagued by a succession of bankruptcy as well as service cuts and delayed maintenance. Additionally, a misguided federal railway regulation contributed to the decline of the railroad industry.

Around 1970, federal government began to loosen the regulations governing railroads. The Surface Transportation Board was established to oversee economic aspects of the industry such as mergers and railroad rates. The Federal Railroad Administration was also established to set rules for safety in rail and is one of the 10 agencies in the U.S. Department of Transportation which oversees passenger and freight transportation.

Since then, the railroad infrastructure of the United America has seen a great deal of investment. The Northeast Corridor, for example has been renovated to accommodate more efficient, faster and modern high speed ground transportation (HSGT) trains. There are also efforts to develop more efficient freight rail. In the future, FRA hopes to continue its partnership with all transportation agencies in order to ensure the safety and reliability of railroads. FRA's mission is to ensure that the nation's transportation system is running as efficiently as is possible.