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The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

The federal employers’ liability Railroad Administration creates and enforces rail safety regulations, provides rail funding and researches rail improvement strategies.

FRA inspectors on the ground use discretion to decide which cases are worthy of the time-consuming and precise civil penalty procedure. This discretion helps ensure that those violations most deserving of punishment are penalized.

Members of SMART-TD and their allies made history in 2024 by pushing the FRA to ensure that two people are in the cabs of locomotives of freight trains. The fight continues.

Safety

The Federal Railroad Administration implements a variety of safety measures to safeguard the health of employees and public. It is responsible for developing and enforcing rail safety regulations. It also administers the funding for rail and studies rail improvement strategies and technology. It also creates plans, implements and maintains a plan for maintaining current rail services and infrastructure. It also develops and improves the national rail network. The department expects that all rail employers adhere to strict regulations and empower their employees, and provide them with the tools to be safe and successful. This includes taking part in the confidential close-call reporting system, establishing labor-management occupational safety and health committees that have full-union participation and antiretaliation provisions and providing employees with the required personal protective gear.

FRA inspectors are at the forefront of enforcement of rail safety regulations and laws. They perform routine inspections on equipment and investigate complaints from hundreds of people. Civil penalties may be imposed on those who violate rail safety laws. The safety inspectors of the agency have a broad discretion on whether an individual violation is in line with the statutory definition of a civil penalty-worthy act. Additionally the Office of Chief Counsel's safety division reviews all reports received from regional offices to determine their legal sufficiency before assessing penalties. The exercise of this discretion both 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.

To be guilty of a civil violation an employee of a railroad must know the rules and regulations governing their actions. They must also be aware of and not adhere to these rules. However, the agency does not take any person who acts under a directive 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 cities and metropolitan areas and between them. A plant railroad's trackage in the steel mill isn't considered part of the general rail system of transportation even being physically connected to it.

Regulation

The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for establishing train regulations that pertain to safety and the transportation of hazardous substances. The agency manages rail finance, which includes loans and grants to improve service and infrastructure. The agency works with other DOT agencies and with industry to devise strategies to improve the nation's railway system. This work 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.

The agency is primarily responsible for freight transportation, but also manages passenger transportation. The agency is working to connect people with the places they want and provide more alternatives for travel. The agency is focused on enhancing the passenger experience as well as improving the safety of the current fleet, and ensuring that the rail network is operating efficiently.

Railroads are required to abide with a number of federal regulations, including the ones pertaining to the size and composition of train crews. In recent years the issue has become a source of controversy. Certain states have passed legislation mandating two-person crews in trains. This final rule outlines the minimum crew size requirements at a federal level, ensuring that all railroads are held to the same safety standards.

This rule also requires each railroad operating one-person train crews to inform FRA of the operation and submit a risk assessment. This will allow FRA to assess the requirements of each operation with those of a two-person standard crew operation. Additionally, this rule changes the criteria for reviewing 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, a lot of people backed the requirement of a two-person crew. A letter from 29 people expressed their concern that a single crew member would not be as quick to respond to train malfunctions or grade crossing incidents or assist emergency responders at a highway-rail grade crossing. The commenters emphasized that human factors are responsible for more than half all railroad accidents and they think that a bigger crew would help ensure the safety of both the train and its cargo.

Technology

Railroads that transport passengers and freight employ various technologies to increase efficiency, add security, improve safety and more. The rail industry vernacular includes many distinct terms and acronyms however, some of the most notable developments include machines-vision systems, instrumented rail inspection systems, driverless trains rolling data centers and unmanned aerial vehicles (commonly known as drones).

Technology isn't only able to replace certain jobs. It empowers people to do their jobs better and with greater security. Railroads that transport passengers use smartphones and contactless fare cards in order to increase ridership and improve the efficiency of their system. Other innovations such as autonomous rail cars are getting closer to reality.

As part of its ongoing efforts to advance safe, reliable and affordable transportation options for the country, the Federal Railroad Administration is focused on modernizing its rail infrastructure. This multi-billion-dollar effort will see tunnels, bridges tracks, power systems and tracks updated, and stations being rebuilt or replaced. FRA's recently passed bipartisan infrastructure law will substantially grow the agency's rail improvement programs.

The Office of Research, Development and Technology of the agency is an essential component in this initiative. The most recent National Academies review of the office found it excelled at engaging, maintaining communication and using inputs of a wide range of stakeholders. It still needs to focus on how its research contributes towards the department's main goal of ensuring safe movement of people and goods via rail.

The agency could improve its efficiency by identifying and supporting automated train systems and technologies. The Association of American Railroads, the primary freight rail business organization that is focused on research, policy, and standard-setting the Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to help in developing industry standards for implementing the technology.

The FRA is interested in the development of a taxonomy to describe automated rail vehicles which defines clearly and consistently different levels of automation. This could be applicable to both rail transit and vehicles on the road. The agency will need to know the degree of risk the industry sees in fully automated operation, as well as whether the industry is considering additional safeguards to minimize the risk.

Innovation

Rail companies are adopting new technologies to improve worker safety, increase efficiency in business processes and ensure that the cargo they transport reaches its destination in good condition. Examples of this technological advancement range from the use of sensors and cameras to monitor freight, to new railcar designs that keep dangerous cargo safe during transport. Some of these technologies offer railroads the ability to dispatch emergency personnel to areas of accidents so that they can quickly mitigate the damage and reduce the risk to property and lives.

One of the most prominent innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC) that will stop 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 a three-part process consisting of onboard locomotive systems that track the train, wayside networks that communicate with the locomotive, and a massive backend server that analyzes and collects data.

Passenger railroads are also embracing technology to improve security and safety. For instance, Amtrak is experimenting with the use of drones to aid security personnel in finding passengers and other items aboard trains in the event in the event of an emergency. Amtrak is also looking into ways to make use of drones. They could be used to inspect bridges and other infrastructures or to replace the lights on railway towers that are dangerous for workers to climb.

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

Another important technological breakthrough in the rail industry is telematics which enables railroads, shippers and other stakeholders to monitor a traincar's status and condition via real-time tracking. Railcar operators and crews will benefit from increased accountability and transparency which can help them improve efficiency, avoid unnecessary maintenance and avoid delays when delivering freight.