The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology
The Federal Railroad Administration creates and enforces rail safety regulations The Federal Railroad Administration also provides funding for rail and conducts research on strategies to improve rail infrastructure.
FRA field inspectors employ discretion to determine which cases merit the precise and time-consuming civil penalty process. This discretion helps to ensure that the most serious violations are penalized.
SMART-TD and its allies created history in 2024 when they convinced the FRA that two persons should be allowed to sit in the cabs of freight trains. The fight isn't over.
Safety
The Federal Railroad Administration implements a variety of safety measures to safeguard the health of employees and public. It creates and enforces regulations for rail safety, administers rail funding and studies strategies for improving rail infrastructure and technology. It also creates the implementation and maintenance of plans for the maintenance of current rail services and infrastructure. It also develops and improves the rail network across the nation. The department expects all rail employers to adhere to the strictest rules and regulations, empower their workers and provide them with the tools to succeed and stay secure. This includes taking part in the confidential close call reporting system, setting up occupational health and safety committees with full union participation, as well as anti-retaliation protections and providing employees with the necessary personal protective equipment.
Inspectors of the FRA are at the forefront of enforcing safety on rail regulations and laws. They conduct routine inspections of equipment and conduct investigations into hundreds of complaints. Civil penalties may be applied to those who break railroad safety laws. Safety inspectors at the agency have a wide discretion to determine if violations fall within the definition provided by law of an act punishable with civil penalties. The Office of Chief Counsel's safety division also examines all reports that regional offices submit to ensure that they are legal prior to imposing penalties. This discretion is exercised at both the field and regional levels to ensure that civil penalties are only applied when they are necessary.
To be considered guilty of a civil violation, a rail employee must know the rules and regulations that govern their actions. They also must be aware that they not adhere to these rules. However the agency does not take any person who is acting under a direction from a supervisor as having committed an intentional violation. The agency defines the "general railroad system of transportation" as the whole network that allows passengers and goods to travel within metropolitan and city areas or between them. The trackage of a plant railroad in a steelmill is not considered to be part of the overall rail transportation system, even though it is physically connected.
Regulation
The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for establishing regulations for trains, such as those relating to safety and the transportation of hazardous substances. The agency oversees rail finance, which includes loans and grants for infrastructure and service improvement. The agency collaborates with other DOT agencies and industry to devise strategies to improve the nation's rail infrastructure. This includes maintaining current rail infrastructure and services, in addition to addressing the need for additional capacity strategically expanding the network and coordinating national and regional systems planning and development.
The agency is responsible for freight transportation but also oversees passenger transport. The agency is working to provide more options for passenger travel and connect people to the places they'd like to go. The agency's primary focus is on enhancing the experience for passengers, enhancing safety of the existing fleet and ensuring the rail network is operating efficiently.
Railroads are required to abide with a variety of federal regulations, including those that deal with the size and composition of train crews. This is an issue of contention in recent years, with some states passing legislation to require two-person crews on trains. This final rule establishes federally the minimum crew size requirements, ensuring that all railroads follow the same safety standards.
fela claims railroad employees requires that each railroad that has a one-person crew notify FRA and submit an analysis of risk. This will allow FRA to evaluate the characteristics of each operation with the parameters of a standard two-person crew operation. Additionally this rule will change the criteria for reviewing an approval petition that is based on determining whether an operation is "consistent with railroad safety" to determining if approving the operation is secure or as safe as an operation with two crew members.
During the time of public comments for this rule, a lot of people expressed their support for a requirement of two persons on the crew. A letter written by 29 individuals emphasized their concerns that a single crew member would not be as quick to respond to issues with trains or grade crossing incidents or assist emergency response personnel at a highway-rail grade crossing. Commenters emphasized that human factors are responsible for a majority of railroad accidents. They believe that a bigger crew will ensure the safety of the train as well as its cargo.
Technology
Freight and passenger rails use a variety of technologies to increase efficiency, enhance security, and improve safety. The rail industry vernacular includes many unique terms and acronyms, but some of the more significant developments include machine vision systems, instrumentsed rail inspection systems, driverless trains, rolling data centers, and unmanned aerial vehicles (commonly known as drones).
Technology isn't only able to replace certain jobs. It helps people perform their jobs more effectively 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 developments like autonomous rail cars are getting closer to reality.
The Federal Railroad Administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to promote secure affordable, reliable, and secure transportation in America is focusing on modernizing the rail infrastructure. This is a multi-billion-dollar initiative that will see bridges and tunnels restored tracks, power systems and tracks upgraded and stations rebuilt or replaced. The recently passed bipartisan infrastructure law will significantly increase the agency's rail improvement programs.
The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a major component of this effort. The National Academies' recent review of the office concluded that it excelled at keeping in touch using inputs from a variety of stakeholders. However, it needs to concentrate on how its research contributes to the department's primary objective of ensuring the safe movement of goods and people by railway.
One area where the agency could be able improve its effectiveness is in identifying and supporting the development of automated train systems and technologies. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is the principal industry association for the freight rail industry, which focuses on research, policy and standard setting created an Technical Advisory Group for Autonomous Train Operations in order to help create standards within the industry.
FRA will be interested in the group's creation of an automated rail taxonomy, which is a standard that will clearly and consistently define different levels of automation that could be applicable to both rail and on-road transit vehicles. The agency will need to know the degree of risk the industry is assessing with fully automated operation, as well as whether the industry is contemplating any additional measures to mitigate that risk.
Innovation
Rail companies are adopting technology to enhance worker safety, increase efficiency in business processes, and ensure that the cargo they transport is delivered in good condition. Examples of such technological advancement range from the use of cameras and sensors to track freight, to the latest railcar designs that keep dangerous cargo safe during transit. Certain of these technologies offer railroads the ability to dispatch emergency personnel to the scene of an accident so they can quickly mitigate the damage and reduce the risk to property and people.
One of the most renowned innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC) which will prevent collisions between trains and trains, situations in which trains are on tracks where they shouldn't be and other accidents that are caused by human error. The system is comprised of three components of onboard locomotive systems that track the train; wayside networks which communicate with the locomotive; and a huge server that collects and analyses data.
Railroads that transport passengers are also embracing technology to enhance safety and security. For instance, Amtrak is experimenting with drones to assist security staff in locating passengers and items on board trains in the event of an emergency. Amtrak is also looking into ways to utilize drones. They could be used to examine bridges and other infrastructures or to replace the lighting on railway towers, which are dangerous for workers to climb.
Other technologies that could be utilized for passenger railroads include smart track technology, which can detect the presence of people or objects on the tracks and send out an alert to drivers when it's unsafe to travel. These technologies are particularly effective in detecting unsafe crossings or other problems in the evenings when traffic is less and there are fewer witnesses to an accident.
Another important technological advancement in the rail industry is telematics which enables railroads, shippers and other stakeholders to see the status and condition of a traincar through real-time tracking. These capabilities give railcar owners and their crews more accountability and transparency and aid in improving efficiency, prevent unnecessary maintenance, and prevent delays in the delivery of freight to customers.