The Federal Railroad Administration

The Federal Railroad Administration is one of the DOT's 10 agencies involved in intermodal transportation. Its purpose is to ensure the safe and reliable movement of goods and people.

FRA field inspectors regularly inspect railroad tracks, signals and train control systems as and operating practices. They also investigate complaints.

Definition

Federal railroads are rail transporters in the United States controlled by the federal government. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, develops and enforces regulations for railways, administers railroad funds, and conducts research to improve rail transportation. The FRA is one of the 10 agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation that are concerned with intermodal transportation. Its chief executive officers are the Administrator and Deputy Administrator.

The agency is responsible for all freight and passenger transport that is made possible by the railway system of the United States. Additionally the agency supports the rehabilitation of Northeast Corridor rail passenger service and consolidates support from the federal government for rail transportation activities. The agency also regulates ownership and operation of intermodal facilities such as tracks, right of way, equipment, real estate, and rolling stock. It also coordinates federal rail transportation programs.

FRA's responsibilities include establishing through regulation, following the notice and comments are allowed, a process by which anyone can submit a make a complaint to the Secretary of Homeland Security concerning railroad security problems or inconsistencies. Additionally, the FRA establishes policies and fela Accident attorney conducts inspections to determine compliance with its rail safety regulations in six technical disciplines that include track signals and train control, motive power and machinery operating practices, hazmat, and highway-rail grade crossings.

The agency is responsible of ensuring that the railroad transportation system is operated in a secure, efficient and sustainable manner. The agency also requires railroads maintain a safe work environment and provide adequate training to their employees. Additionally, the agency establishes and enforces railroad rates to ensure that the public gets an equitable price for their transportation services.

In addition the Federal Railroad Administration enacts and enforces rules to stop discrimination against railroad workers, and also protects whistleblowers from retaliation from railroad carriers. The agency also establishes a procedure for railroad employees to file 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 stronger America today and in the future. The FRA accomplishes this through controlling safety of railroads, coordinating railroad assistance programs conducting research to help improved railroad safety and national rail transportation policy and coordination, as well as supporting the development of rail networks and assisting the private sector manage railroads. In the past, railroads controlled the market with no competition. The railroad industry was able to abuse its dominant position in the market, resulting in. Hence, Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission and other regulatory agencies to curb the abuses committed by railroad monopolies.

Purpose

The federal railroad is a federal agency that makes regulations, manages funds for rail and researches ways to improve the nation's rail transportation system. It is responsible for both passenger and freight railroads, and operates the nation's rail infrastructure. It is one of 10 agencies of the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also responsible for maintaining and expanding the existing railway systems.

Safety is the government's main responsibility when it comes to rail transportation. 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 largest of these is the Office of Railroad Safety, which has about 350 safety inspectors. It is responsible for conducting inspections that determine compliance with regulations in six technical disciplines including track signals, train control, motive power and equipment, operating procedures, hazmat and highway-rail grade crossings.

FRA has additional departments which include the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This department oversees programs that aim to improve passenger and freight railway transport, including the Northeast Corridor Future. This department also is in charge of the grants that are given to railways and works with other agencies to develop plans for the country's rail needs.

Another important function of the FRA is the enforcement of federal laws that pertain to railroads and their employees. This includes preventing railroads to discriminate against workers and ensuring that injured railway employees are transported to the nearest hospital to receive treatment. Additionally, railroads are prohibited from refusing or delaying medical treatment for injured railway employees.

The FRA is the main regulator for the rail passenger and freight industry, but other agencies oversee the economic aspects of rail transportation. The Surface Transportation Board, for example, is in charge of setting rates and managing the financial aspects of the industry. It is the regulatory authority for railroad mergers, line-sales construction and abandonment. After the public consultation period, the agency is also accountable for establishing regulations that allow anyone to file a complaint about any alleged safety issues with rail.

Functions

Rails transport people and goods from and to cities in the developed world as and villages in less developed countries. They transport raw materials to processing and manufacturing factories, and then the final products from these facilities to warehouses and stores. Railroads are an essential mode of transportation for a variety of essential products, including coal, oil and grains. In 2020, freight rail moved more than a quarter of nation's total freight volume [PDF(PDF).

The federal railroad is run as a business. It has departments for marketing, operations, sale, and an executive department. The marketing and sales department collaborates with potential and current customers to determine what kind of rail services they need and what those services should cost. The operations department then creates rail services that meet these requirements at the lowest cost possible to earn money for railroad. The executive department supervises the entire operation and makes sure that every department is operating efficiently.

The government supports the railways in a variety ways, from grants to subsidized rates for shipping government traffic. Congress also provides funds to help build and maintain stations and tracks. These subsidies are often added to the revenues that railroads receive through ticket sales and freight contracts.

In the United States, the government has the railway for passengers, Amtrak. It is a quasi-public for-profit corporation with a significant stockholder that is the United States government.

A major function of the Federal Railroad 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 gathers and analyzes information on rail safety to identify trends and areas that need improved or increased regulation.

FRA also has 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 adopting positive train control (PTC). PTC is a safety system that uses sensors and computers on board to stop the train automatically when it is too close to another vehicle or object.

History

The nation's first railroads were built in the 1820s and 1830s largely in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. Railroads helped speed up industrialization and brought more food to markets in these regions. This helped the country to become more self-sufficient and less dependent on imports from abroad, which helped to foster a strong economic base.

In the latter part of the nineteenth century the railroad industry was experiencing a "Golden Age," during which many new, more efficient rail lines were built and passenger travel on train became more popular. The government's efforts to expand the railroad system were an important factor. For instance, the government gave land grants to homesteaders to encourage them to move to the West and the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads worked together to complete the first transcontinental railroad which enabled travel from New York to San Francisco in just six days.

However in the first half of the 20th century, the demand for passenger railroad services declined and other transportation options like automobiles and planes gained in popularity, while the stifling of regulations hindered railroads competitiveness economically. The industry was plagued by a series of bankruptcy as well as service cuts and deferred maintenance. In addition, a misguided federal railway regulations contributed to the decline of the industry.

Around the year 1970, the federal government began to ease the regulatory shackles on railroads. Surface Transportation Board was created to oversee economic aspects like railroad rates and mergers. The Federal Railroad Administration was also created, which sets rail safety regulations and is one of the 10 agencies in the U.S. Department of Transportation which oversees passenger and freight transportation.

Since then, a significant amount of investment has been made in the country's railroad infrastructure. The Northeast Corridor has been rebuilt, for instance, to accommodate 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 working with all transportation agencies to ensure safe and reliable rails in the near future. It is the responsibility of FRA to ensure that the transportation system of the United States is as efficient as it can be.