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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 field inspectors make use of discretion to decide on which cases warrant the exact and lengthy civil penalty process. This ensures that the violations most deserving of punishment are punished.
SMART-TD members and allies made history in 2024 when they began pushing the FRA to allow two people in the locomotive cab of freight trains. The fight isn't over.
Safety
The Federal Railroad Administration has a variety of safety measures in place to protect the health and welfare of employees and the public. It is responsible for developing and enforcing rail safety regulations. It also administers rail funding, and studies rail improvement strategies and technological developments. It also formulates and implements a strategy to ensure the current infrastructure, rail services and capacity, and strategically develops and enhances the national rail network. The department requires all railroad employers to adhere to strict rules and regulations, empower their employees and provide them with the tools needed to be successful and secure. This includes participating in a confidential close-call reporting system, creating labor-management occupational safety and health committees that have full union participation and antiretaliation provisions and providing employees with the required personal protective gear.
FRA inspectors are on the front lines of enforcement of railway safety regulations and laws. They conduct routine inspections of equipment and conduct hundreds of investigations of complaints of noncompliance. Those who violate the safety rules for rail can be subject to civil penalties. Safety inspectors at the agency have wide discretion to determine if a violation falls under the legal definition of an act punishable by civil penalties. The Office of Chief Counsel’s safety division also examines all reports that regional offices submit to ensure 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 in cases that warrant their use.
To be guilty of a civil violation, a rail employee must be aware of the rules and regulations governing his or her actions. They must also knowingly not adhere to these rules. The agency doesn't consider that an individual who acts on a supervisor's directive has committed a willful offence. The agency defines the "general railroad system of transportation" as the entire system over which goods and passengers travel within metropolitan areas or between them. The trackage of a plant railroad in 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 movement of hazardous materials. The agency also manages rail financing, including grants and loans for improvements to infrastructure and service. The agency works with other DOT agencies and with industry to develop strategies for improving the nation's railroad system. This includes ensuring the current rail infrastructure and services, addressing the need for capacity expansion, expanding the network strategically and coordinating the regional and national system's planning and development.
Although the majority of the agency's work focuses on freight transportation, it also oversees passenger transportation. The agency is working to provide more options for passenger travel and connect passengers with the places they want to go. The agency's focus is on improving the experience of passengers and enhancing the safety of the existing fleet, and ensuring that the rail network is operating efficiently.
Railroads must comply with many federal regulations, including those pertaining to the size of the crews on trains. This issue has become controversial in recent years, with several states enacting legislation that requires two-person crews on trains. This final rule codifies the minimum size of crew requirements at a federal level, ensuring that all railroads are subject to consistent safety standards.
This rule also requires that each railroad operating a one-person crew notify FRA and submit a risk analysis. This will allow FRA to better understand the specifics of each operation and compare them with the normal two-person crew operation. This rule also alters the review standard of an approval request that is a special case to determine if an operation is "consistent" with railroad safety to determining if the operation is as secure or less risky than a two-person crew operations.
During the time of public comment for this rule, a number of people voted for a requirement for a two person crew. A letter written by 29 people outlined their concerns that a single crew member might 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 pointed out that human factors are the reason for more than half of all railroad accidents. They believe that a larger crew will ensure the security of the train as well as its cargo.
Technology
Freight and passenger rails employ various technologies to increase efficiency, enhance security, and increase safety. The language used in the rail industry includes many unique terms and acronyms, but some of the more notable developments include machine vision systems, instrumentsed rail inspection systems, driverless trains rolling data centers, and drones that are not piloted (commonly known as drones).
Technology isn't only able to replace certain jobs. fela lawyer empowers people to perform their jobs better and safer. Railroads that transport passengers use smartphones and contactless fare cards to increase passengership and boost the efficiency of their system. Other innovations such as autonomous rail cars are coming closer to reality.
The Federal Railroad Administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to ensure secure reliable, affordable, and cost-effective transportation in the United States, is focused on modernizing the rail infrastructure. This multi-billion-dollar project will see bridges, tunnels tracks, power systems and tracks updated, and stations being rebuilt or replaced. The FRA's rail improvement program will be significantly extended by the recently passed bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a major piece in this initiative. The National Academies' recent review of the office found that it excelled in engaging, maintaining communication using inputs from a wide range of stakeholders. It is still required to be aware of how its research contributes to the department's main goal of ensuring the safety of people and goods by railways.
One area where the agency may be able to improve its effectiveness is by identifying and assisting the development of automated train systems and technologies. The Association of American Railroads (AAR), the primary 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 establish standards for the industry.
The FRA is interested in the group’s development of a taxonomy to describe automated rail vehicles which defines clearly and consistently different levels of automation. This could be applicable to both rail transit and vehicles on the road. The agency will also need to understand the level of risk to safety that the industry believes is associated when implementing a fully automated system and whether the industry is considering adding additional safeguards to mitigate that risk.
Innovation
Railroads are embracing technology to boost worker safety, make business processes more efficient and ensure that the cargo that they transport arrives at its destination safely. Examples of such technological advancement vary from the use sensors and cameras to keep track of freight, and to new railcar designs that keep hazardous cargo safe during transport. Some of these technologies even offer railroads the ability to send emergency response 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 inhibit train-to-train collisions, situations where trains are on tracks they shouldn't be and other accidents that are caused by human mistakes. This system is a three-part system consisting of locomotives onboard that track the train, wayside networks that communicate with the locomotive, and a massive backend server that analyzes and collects data.
Passenger railroads are also embracing technology to improve safety and security. Amtrak for instance, is experimenting with the use of drones in order to help security personnel on trains find passengers and other items in the event of an emergency. The company is also looking into other possibilities to utilize drones, including deploying drones to conduct inspections of bridges and other infrastructure, such as replacing the lighting on railway towers, which can be dangerous for workers to climb.
Smart track technology is another technology that is used in railways for passengers. It is able to detect objects or people on tracks and alert drivers if it is unsafe to continue. These types of technologies are particularly beneficial in detecting unsafe crossings as well as other issues that can arise during off-hours, when traffic is at its lowest and fewer people are around to witness an accident.
Another important technological breakthrough in the rail industry is telematics, which enables railroads, shippers and other stakeholders to monitor the condition and status of a traincar by real-time tracking. These capabilities provide railcar operators and their crews more accountability and visibility and can help them improve efficiency, prevent unnecessary maintenance, and prevent delays in the delivery of freight to customers.