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The Federal Railroad Administration

The Federal Railroad Administration is one of the DOT's 10 agencies involved in intermodal transportation. Its mission is enabling the safe and reliable transportation of both people and goods.

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

Definition

Federal railroads are rail carriers in the United States controlled by the federal government. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) establishes and enforces safety rules, oversees railroad funding, and researches ways to improve the efficiency of rail transportation systems. The FRA is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's intermodal transportation division, and its chief officers are the Administrator and the Deputy Administrator.

The agency is responsible for all passenger and freight transportation that uses the nation's railway network. The agency also consolidates government funding for rail transportation, and helps with the rehabilitation of Northeast Corridor passenger service. The agency also regulates the ownership and operation of intermodal facilities including tracks, right of way equipment, real estate, and rolling stock. It also oversees federal rail transportation programs.

The FRA's duties include establishing, through regulation, after notification and comment an avenue through which anyone can submit a make a complaint to the Secretary of Homeland Security concerning railroad security issues or deficiencies. In addition, the agency creates policies and conducts inspections in order to evaluate the compliance of 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 is operating in a secure, efficient and sustainable manner. The agency also requires that railroads maintain a safe work environment and provide adequate training to their employees. The agency also sets and enforces railroad prices to ensure that the public is billed fairly for transportation services.

The Federal Railroad Administration also enacts and implements rules to prevent discrimination towards railroad employees. It also protects whistleblowers from retaliation from railroad carriers. The agency also establishes an avenue for railroad employees to make complaints about the conduct of the company.

The primary goal of the agency is to ensure the safe, reliable and efficient movement of goods and people for a strong America both now and in the future. The FRA accomplishes this through regulating rail safety, managing programs for assistance to railroads, conducting research in support of improved railroad safety and national transportation policy and coordinating the development of rail networks and assisting the private sector manage railroads. In the past, railroads were essentially monopolies that had no competition. The railroad industry abused its dominant position in the market as a result. Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission, as well as other regulatory agencies to control railroad monopolies' abuses.

Purpose

Federal railroads are federal agencies that set rules, regulate funds for rail and conduct research to improve rail transport in the United America. It is responsible for the rail infrastructure of the United States and supervises passenger and freight railroads. It is one of the ten agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also charged with maintaining and expanding existing rail systems, ensuring the capacity of the rail industry to meet the growing demand for freight and travel, as well as providing leadership in national and regional system planning.

The government's primary responsibility in the field of rail transportation is safety. The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for this. It has a number of divisions that supervise the country's passenger and freight railroad operations. The Office of Railroad Safety is the largest of these with a staff of around 350. It is responsible for conducting safety inspections in six different technical disciplines, including track signalling, and train control, motive and equipment operating procedures, hazmat and highway-rail grade crosses.

FRA has other departments, including the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. It oversees programs that are meant to improve passenger and freight railway transportation, including the Northeast Corridor Future. The department is also responsible for the grants that are given to railways and collaborates with other agencies to develop plans for the country's rail needs.

Another important function of the FRA is the enforcement of certain federal laws pertaining to railroads and their employees. This includes preventing railroads to discriminate against employees and making sure that all injured railway staff are taken to the nearest hospital for treatment. Railroads are also prohibited from delay or refuse medical treatment for injured railway employees.

The FRA is the primary regulator of the passenger and freight railway industries, but there are other organizations that manage the economic aspects of rail transportation. The Surface Transportation Board, for instance is responsible for setting rates and managing the economics of the industry. It has regulatory authority on railroad mergers, line sales, construction, and abandonment. Other responsibilities include the establishment of rules after a public input opportunity, by which anyone may report alleged rail safety violations to the agency.

Functions

Railroads transport goods and people between cities in the developed nations as and remote villages in less developed countries. They transport raw materials to processing and manufacturing factories, and the finished products from those factories to warehouses and stores. Rail is an essential mode of transportation for a range of essential commodities like grains, oil and coal. In 2020, freight railroads moved more than a quarter of all freight in the United America [PDF].

Federal railroads function just like any other company, with departments for marketing and sales, operations and an executive department. The marketing and sales department works with current and potential customers to determine the type of rail services they require and how much they will cost. The operations department then produces the rail services that meet those requirements at the lowest possible cost to earn money for the railroad. The executive department supervises the entire operation, ensuring that each department is functioning efficiently.

The government offers support to the railways in a variety ways, from grants to subsidized rates for government-owned transport. Congress also provides funds to support and build new track and stations. These subsidies are usually in addition to the earnings railroads receive from tickets and freight contracts.

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

The primary function of the Federal fela railroad settlements Administration (FRA) is establishing and enforcing 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 security of rail lines to determine trends and areas that require improvement or regulatory attention and to determine trends.

In addition to these fundamental duties, FRA works on various other projects that aim to improve the economy and security of railway transportation in the United States. For instance, the agency is working to remove obstacles that could hinder railroads' implementation of positive train control systems (PTC). PTC is a safety system that makes use of sensors and computers on board to automatically stop the train when it is too close to a vehicle or other 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 to markets in these regions. This development allowed the country to become more self-sufficient and less dependent on imports from abroad, which resulted in a solid economic base.

In the late nineteenth century the railroad industry went through 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 largely due to the government's efforts to expand the railroad system. For example the government provided homesteaders land grants to encourage them to move to the West, and the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads joined forces to construct the first transcontinental railroad, which enabled travel from New York to San Francisco in six days.

In the first half century however the demand for passenger rail services decreased, and other modes of transportation like planes and cars became more popular. Meanwhile, stifling regulation made it difficult for railroads to compete. A string of bankruptcies, delays in maintenance and service cuts was the next step. Misguided federal rail regulations also contributed to the decline.

Around 1970 the federal government started to loosen the regulatory burdens on railroads. Surface Transportation Board was created to oversee economic matters such as railroad rates and mergers. The Federal Railroad Administration was also established to set standards for rail safety and is one of the 10 agencies in the U.S. Department of Transportation that supervises passenger and freight transportation.

Since then, a significant deal of investment has been made in the country's railway infrastructure. The Northeast Corridor has been rebuilt, for instance, to allow for faster and more modern high-speed ground transportation (HSGT). The effort has also been made to develop more efficient freight rail systems. FRA hopes to continue to work with all transportation agencies to ensure the safety and reliability of rails in the near future. It is the job of FRA to ensure that the nation's transportation system operates as efficiently as possible.