The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

The Federal Railroad Administration creates and enforces rail safety regulations It also provides rail funding and conducts research on strategies to improve rail infrastructure.

FRA inspectors on the ground employ discretion to decide which cases merit the time-consuming and precise civil penalty process. This discretion helps ensure that the violations most deserving of punishment are punished.

SMART-TD and its allies created history by 2024 when they convinced the FRA that two people should be allowed in the locomotive cabs of freight trains. The fight is not over.

Safety

The Federal Railroad Administration implements a number of safety measures to protect the health of employees as well as the public. It develops and enforces regulations for rail safety and oversees the funding for rail. It also researches rail improvement strategies and technologies. It also creates and implements a strategy to ensure the current infrastructure, services, and capacity and strategically expands and improves the nation's rail network. The department demands that all rail companies adhere to strict guidelines and empower their employees, and provide them with tools to ensure their safety and success. This includes taking part in the secure close call reporting system, setting up labor-management occupational health and safety committees that have full union participation and anti-retaliation protections and providing employees with personal protection equipment.

FRA inspectors are on the front lines of enforcement of the rail safety laws and regulations. They conduct routine inspections of equipment and investigate complaints from hundreds of people. Civil penalties are applied to those who break railroad safety laws. Safety inspectors from the agency are able to decide on the extent to which an incident falls within the statutory definition of a crime that is punishable by civil penalties. In addition, the Office of Chief Counsel's safety department reviews all reports received by regional offices for legality prior to assessing penalties. This discretion is exercised at both the field and regional levels to ensure that civil penalties are only applied in situations that warrant them.

A rail employee must be aware of rules and regulations that govern their actions, and not knowingly violate those standards to commit a civil penalty-worthy offense. The agency does not believe that a person who acts in response to a supervisor's direction has committed a willful offence. The agency defines "general railroad system" as the entire system that transports passengers and goods within and between metropolitan areas and cities. The trackage of a plant railroad in the steel mill isn't considered to be part of the overall rail system of transportation, even although it is physically connected to it.

Regulation

The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for establishing train regulations including those related to safety and the movement of hazardous substances. The agency also oversees rail financing including loans and grants for infrastructure and improvements to service. The agency works with other DOT agencies as well as industry to develop strategies for improving the nation's rail infrastructure. This includes ensuring the existing rail infrastructure and services, addressing the need for additional capacity, expanding the network strategically as well as coordinating the regional and national system planning and development.

The agency is responsible for freight transportation, but also manages passenger transportation. The agency is working to connect people with the destinations they desire and offer more options for travel. The agency's focus is on improving the passenger's experience and enhancing the safety of the current fleet, and making sure that the rail system continues to operate efficiently.

Railroads must adhere to a number of federal regulations, including those pertaining to the size of crews on trains. This issue has become controversial in recent years, with a few states passing legislation that requires two-person crews on trains. This final rule codifies federally the minimum size of crew requirements, making sure that all railroads adhere to the same safety standards.

This rule also requires each railroad that operates one-person train crews to inform FRA of the operation and submit a risk assessment. This will allow FRA to better identify the specific parameters of each operation and compare them to the parameters of a normal two-person crew operation. This rule also changes the standard for reviewing an approval request that is a special case from determining whether an operation is "consistent" with fela railroad safety to determining if the operation is as secure or safer than two-person crew operations.

During the public comment period for this rule, a lot of people supported a two-person crew requirement. In a formal letter 29 people voiced their concerns that a single member of the crew will not be able to respond in a timely manner to incidents or train malfunctions at grade crossings or assist emergency response personnel at an elevated highway crossing. The commenters pointed out that human factors account for more than half of all railroad accidents, and they believe that a larger team would help ensure the safety of both the train and its cargo.

Technology

Railroads for passenger and freight use numerous technologies to enhance efficiency, improve safety, boost security and more. The rail industry vernacular contains a myriad of distinct terms and acronyms but some of the most notable developments include machine vision systems, instrumented rail inspection systems, driverless trains rolling data centers and drones that are not piloted (commonly known as drones).

Technology isn't just replacing some jobs -- it's empowering people to do their job more effectively and safely. Passenger railroads are using smartphone apps and contactless fare payment cards in order to boost ridership and make the system more efficient. Other innovations, like autonomous rail vehicles, are inching closer to becoming reality.

As part of its ongoing effort to ensure safe, reliable and affordable transportation for the entire nation The Federal Railroad Administration is focused on modernizing its rail infrastructure. This is a multi-billion dollar initiative that will see tunnels and bridges repaired tracks, power systems and tracks upgraded and stations rebuilt or upgraded. The FRA's rail improvements program will be greatly extended by the recently passed bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The Office of Research, Development and Technology of the agency is an essential element in this effort. The most recent National Academies review of the office revealed that it was successful in engaging in a continuous dialogue and utilizing the inputs from a variety of stakeholders. However, it needs to be more focused on how its research helps the department achieve its primary strategic goal of ensuring the safe transportation of goods and people by railway.

The agency could improve its effectiveness by identifying and implementing automated train systems and technology. The Association of American Railroads, the freight rail industry's primary business organization that is focused on policy, research and standard setting and has created a Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to assist in the development of industry standards for the implementation of the technology.

FRA will be interested in the group's creation of an automated rail taxonomy, a standardization system that can clearly and consistently define different levels of automation that will be applicable to both on-road and rail transit vehicles. The agency would like to know the amount of risk the industry is assessing with fully automated operation, and if the industry is considering additional safeguards to minimize that risk.

Innovation

Railroads are embracing technology to improve worker safety and make business processes more efficient, and ensure that the freight it transports arrives at its destination safely. Examples of this technological advancement vary from the use sensors and cameras to track freight, to the latest railcar designs that keep hazardous cargo safe during transit. Certain of these technologies provide a way for railroads to dispatch emergency personnel to the scene of an accident so they can swiftly mitigate damage and reduce the risk to property and lives.

One of the most prominent innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC) which will prevent train-to-train collisions, situations where trains are on tracks where they shouldn't be, and other accidents that are caused by human mistakes. This system consists of three components: onboard locomotive systems which track the train; wayside networks which communicate with the locomotive; and a huge server that gathers and analyzes data.

Trains for passengers also adopt technology to improve safety and security. Amtrak is one example. It is experimenting with the use of drones to assist train security personnel locate passengers and items in an emergency. The company is also exploring other ways to use drones, such as using them to perform inspections of bridges and other infrastructure for example, replacing the lights on railway towers, which could be dangerous for workers to climb.

Smart track technology is a different technology that is used in passenger railroads. It can detect objects or people on tracks and notify drivers that it is unsafe to continue. These technologies are particularly effective in detecting unsafe crossings or other issues during the evenings when the traffic is lower and there are fewer witnesses to an accident.

Another significant technological advance in the rail industry is telematics which allows railroads, shippers and other stakeholders to monitor a traincar's status and condition by real-time tracking. These capabilities give railcar owners and crews better accountability and visibility and can aid in improving efficiency, prevent unnecessary maintenance and avoid delays in delivering freight to customers.