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The Federal Railroad Administration

The Federal Railroad Administration is one of the DOT's 10 agencies concerned with intermodal transportation. Its goal is to facilitate the secure and reliable transportation of both people and goods.

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

Definition

A federal railroad is a railway in the United States that is controlled by the federal government. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), which is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, formulates and enforces regulations governing railways as well as manages funds from railroads and conducts research to improve rail transportation. The FRA is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's intermodal transportation division, and its top executives are the Administrator and the Deputy Administrator.

The agency oversees all freight and passenger transport that utilizes the nation's railway network. In addition, the agency also supports the rehabilitation of the Northeast Corridor rail passenger service and consolidates government support for rail transportation. The agency also regulates the ownership and operation of intermodal facilities, including tracks, Fela Lawyer right of way, equipment, real estate, and rolling stock. It also oversees federal rail transportation programs.

The FRA's duties include establishing, through regulation, following the notice and comments are allowed, a process by anyone can submit a report to the Secretary of Homeland Security concerning railroad security issues or shortcomings. The agency also establishes policies, conducts inspections, and evaluates the compliance with its railroad laws in six technical disciplines, including track signal, track, and train control locomotive power and equipment; operating practices hazardous materials and highway-rail grade intersections.

The agency is in charge of making sure that the railroad transportation system is operating in a safe, economic and sustainable manner. In turn, the agency requires railroads to maintain a safe working environment and provide adequate training for their employees. The agency also sets and enforces railroad prices to ensure that the public is billed fair prices for transportation services.

The Federal Railroad Administration also enacts and enforces rules to stop discrimination against railroad employees. They also shield whistleblowers from retaliation from railroad carriers. The agency also sets up an avenue for railroad employees to make complaints regarding the conduct of their company.

The main goal of the agency is to facilitate the secure efficient, reliable, and secure transportation of goods and people for a strong America today and into the future. The FRA accomplishes this through controlling rail safety, coordinating programs to assist railroads, conducting research to support improving safety in the railroad industry and national transportation policies and coordinating the development of rail networks and assisting the private sector manage railroads. In the past, railroads were huge monopolies, with no competition. The railroad industry took advantage of its dominance in the market due to. Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission, as along with other regulatory agencies to control the monopolies' exploitation of railroads.

Purpose

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

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

FRA has additional departments that include the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This department is responsible for programs aimed at enhancing passenger and freight rail transportation, like the Northeast Corridor Future. The department is also responsible for the grants that are given to railways and works with other agencies to plan for the country's rail needs.

The FRA also has a duty to enforce federal laws related to railroads and their employees. This includes preventing railroads to discriminate against employees and ensuring that all injured railway staff are transported to the nearest hospital for treatment. The law also prohibits railroads from deny or delay medical treatment for injured railway workers.

The FRA is the main regulator of the freight and passenger rail industry, but other agencies manage the economic aspects of rail transportation. Surface Transportation Board is responsible for determining rates and governing economics in the industry. It has regulatory authority over railroad mergers, line sales construction, and abandonment. Other responsibilities include establishing rules after a public input opportunity that allows anyone to submit complaints about rail safety violations to the agency.

Functions

Railroads transport goods and people to and from cities in developed nations, as and remote villages in less developed countries. They transport raw materials to manufacturing and processing factories, and the finished products from those facilities to stores and warehouses. Rail is a vital form of transportation for a range of essential commodities like grains, oil and coal. In 2020, freight rail carried more than a quarter of the nation's total freight volumes [PDF].

The federal railroad is managed just like other businesses. It has departments for marketing and operations, sales and an executive department. The marketing and sales department talks with customers and potential clients to determine what services they require and what they need to 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, making sure every department is running smoothly.

The government helps the railways with a variety methods such as grants and subsidised rates on government traffic. Congress also provides funds to help build and maintain new stations and tracks. These subsidies are usually in addition to the earnings the railroads receive from tickets and freight contracts.

In the United States, the government has the passenger railway Amtrak. It is a quasi public for-profit corporation, with the United States Government as a major stockholder.

A key role 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 safety and health of railroad employees. FRA also analyzes and collects information on rail safety to identify trends and areas that require more or better regulation.

FRA also participates in other projects that help improve the economy and safety of rail transportation in the United States. For instance, the agency is working to remove obstacles that could hinder railroads' introduction of positive train control systems (PTC). PTC is a safety system that utilizes sensors and computers on board to stop a train in the event that it is too close to another vehicle or object.

History

The nation's first railroads were constructed in the 1820s and 1830s largely in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. The railroads increased industrialization and brought more food items to the market in these regions. This helped the country become more independent and less dependent on imports.

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the railroad industry experienced a "Golden Age," during which many new railway lines that were more efficient were built and passenger travel on train became increasingly popular. This was in large part due to the government's efforts to expand the railroad system. The government, for example, gave land grants to homesteaders in order to encourage them to settle in the West. Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads also worked together to construct the first transcontinental railway, which allowed passengers to travel from New York City to San Francisco in just six days.

In the first half century however the demand for rail passenger services decreased, and other modes of transportation such as cars and planes gained in popularity. In the meantime, the stifling of regulation stifled railroads' economic ability to compete. The industry was plagued by a string of bankruptcy as well as service cuts and delayed maintenance. Additionally, a misguided railroad regulations from the federal government led to the demise of the industry.

Around the year 1970 the federal government began to loosen the regulatory burdens on railroads. Surface Transportation Board was created to oversee economic issues like railroad rates and mergers. The Federal Railroad Administration, which oversees passenger and freight transportation and sets rail safety standards, was also created.

Since then, the railroad infrastructure of the United States has seen a significant amount of investment. The Northeast Corridor has been rebuilt, for instance, to allow for faster and more modern high-speed ground transportation (HSGT). There are also efforts to create more efficient systems for freight rail. In the future, FRA hopes to continue its relationship with all transportation agencies in order to ensure reliable and safe railroads. It is the responsibility of FRA to help make sure that the transportation system of the United States operates as efficiently as possible.