The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

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

FRA inspectors on the ground use discretion to determine which cases merit the lengthy and precise civil penalty procedure. This allows them to ensure that the most serious violations are punished.

Allies and members of SMART-TD made history in 2024 by pushing the FRA to keep two people in the locomotive cab of freight trains. The fight is not over.

Safety

The Federal Railroad Administration has a variety of safety measures in place to protect the health and safety of its employees and the general public. It is responsible for establishing and enforcing rail safety regulations. It also manages the funding for rail and conducts research on rail improvement strategies and technological developments. It also formulates plans, implements and maintains a plan for maintaining the current rail infrastructure and services. It also works to expand and improve the national rail network. The department requires all rail companies to adhere to strict rules and regulations, and empower their employees and provide them with the tools needed to be successful and safe. This includes participating in a confidential close-call reporting system, setting up labor-management occupational safety and health committees with full participation from unions and anti-retaliation clauses and providing employees with the needed personal protective equipment.

Inspectors of the FRA are at the forefront of enforcing rail safety laws and regulations. They perform routine inspections on equipment and investigate hundreds of complaints. Civil penalties are handed out to those who violate railroad safety laws. Safety inspectors at the agency have a wide discretion to determine whether violations fall within the legal definition of an offense that is punishable with civil penalties. Additionally the Office of Chief Counsel's security division examines all reports submitted from regional offices to determine their legality prior to assessing penalties. The exercise of this discretion at the regional and field levels helps ensure that the exacting, time-consuming civil penalty process is applied only in those situations which truly warrant the deterrent effect of a civil penalty.

Rail employees must be aware of rules and regulations that govern his or her actions and knowingly disregard those standards to commit a criminal offense that is punishable by a civil penalty. However the agency doesn't consider any individual who is acting under a direction from a supervisor to have committed a willful violation. The agency defines the "general fela railroad system of transportation" as the whole network that allows passengers and goods to travel within metropolitan areas and between them. The trackage of a plant railroad within the steel mill is not considered to be part of the general rail transportation system, even though it's physically connected.

Regulation

The Federal Railroad Administration sets train regulations, including those pertaining to safety and the movement of hazardous materials. The agency oversees rail finance, including loans and grants to improve service and infrastructure. The agency works with other DOT agencies as well as industry to develop strategies to improve the nation's rail system. This includes maintaining the current rail infrastructure and services, addressing the need for new capacity, expanding the network strategically, and coordinating the national and regional system development and planning.

Although the majority of the agency's work is focused on freight transportation, it also handles passenger transportation. The agency is working to provide more options for passengers and connect people to the places they'd like to go. The agency's primary focus is on enhancing the experience for passengers and enhancing the safety of the current fleet, and making sure that the rail network continues operating efficiently.

Railroads must abide by a variety of federal regulations, relating to the size of crews on trains. This issue has become controversial in recent years, with a few states enacting legislation that requires two-person crews on trains. This final rule codifies the minimum requirements for crew size at the federal level, making sure 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 an assessment of risk. This will allow FRA to better understand the specific parameters of each operation and compare them with the standard two-person crew operation. This rule also changes the review standard of an approval request that is a special case from determining whether an operation is "consistent" with railroad safety, to determining if the operation is safer or more secure than a two-person crew operations.

During the public comment period for this rule, many people backed the requirement of a two-person crew. In a formal letter 29 people voiced their concern that a single crew member will not be able to respond in a timely manner to train accidents or malfunctions at grade crossings, or assist emergency response personnel at a highway-rail level crossing. The commenters emphasized that human factors account for more than half railroad accidents and they believe that a larger crew will ensure the safety of the train and its cargo.

Technology

Railroads for passenger and freight use a wide array of technologies to increase efficiency, increase security, improve safety and more. The language used in the rail industry includes many specific terms and acronyms, but some of the most notable innovations include machine vision systems, instrumentsed rail inspection systems, driverless trains rolling data centers, and unmanned aerial vehicles (commonly known as drones).

Technology isn't just replacing some jobs; it's helping people to perform their jobs more efficiently and with greater security. 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 cars are getting closer to becoming reality.

As part of its ongoing effort to improve safe, reliable and affordable transportation options for the country, the Federal Railroad Administration is focused on modernizing its rail infrastructure. This is a multi-billion-dollar initiative that will see bridges and tunnels restored as well as tracks and power systems upgraded, and stations rebuilt or upgraded. FRA's recently enacted bipartisan infrastructure fela law firm will dramatically expand the agency's rail improvements programs.

The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a central piece in this effort. The National Academies' recent review of the office concluded that it excelled in keeping in touch with and using inputs from a broad range of stakeholders. It still needs to focus on how its research contributes to the department's primary objective of ensuring safe movement of goods and people by railways.

One area in which the agency could be able to increase its effectiveness is in identifying and supporting the advancement of automated train systems and technologies. The Association of American Railroads, the main freight rail industry business organization that is focused on research, policy, and standard-setting and has created a Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to help in developing industry standards for the implementation of the technology.

The FRA is interested in the creation of a taxonomy for automated rail vehicles, a system that defines clearly and consistently different levels of automation. This could be applicable to rail transit as well as on-road vehicles. The agency will need to know the degree of risk that the industry is assessing with fully automated operation, and whether the industry is contemplating any additional safeguards to minimize the risk.

Innovation

Railroads are embracing technology to increase worker safety and improve business processes. efficient and help ensure that the cargo they move reaches its destination in good condition. Examples of this kind of innovations 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 allow railroads to dispatch emergency responders directly to accident sites to minimize danger and minimize the damage to property and people.

Positive Train Control (PTC) is one of the most significant developments in rail. It will prevent train-to-train accidents, situations where trains are on track they shouldn't be, and other accidents caused by human errors. This system consists of three parts consisting of locomotives onboard that track the train; wayside networks which communicate with the locomotive and a huge server that collects and analyses data.

Trains for passengers are also adopting technology to bolster safety and security. For instance, Amtrak is experimenting with the use of drones to aid security personnel in finding passengers and other items aboard trains in case in the event of an emergency. The company is also looking into other possibilities to utilize drones, such as using them to perform inspections of bridges and other infrastructure such as replacing the lighting on railway towers, which could be dangerous for workers to climb.

Other technologies that can be utilized for passenger railroads include smart track technology, which is able to detect the presence of objects or people on the tracks and issue drivers with a warning if it's unsafe to travel. These types of technologies can be particularly useful in detecting crossings that are not authorized and other issues during off-hours, when traffic volumes are lowest and there are fewer people to witness an accident.

Another significant technological advance in the rail industry is telematics which enables railroads, shippers and other stakeholders to monitor a traincar's status and condition through real-time tracking. These capabilities provide railcar operators and crews better accountability and transparency and aid in improving efficiency, prevent unnecessary maintenance and avoid delays in the delivery of freight to customers.