20 Resources That Will Make You Better At Federal Railroad
The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology
The Federal Railroad Administration creates and enforces safety regulations for rail, provides rail funding and conducts research on strategies to improve rail infrastructure.
FRA inspectors on the ground use discretion to decide which cases merit the time-consuming and precise civil penalty process. This ensures that those violations most deserving of punishment are punished.
SMART-TD and its allies created history by 2024 when they convinced the FRA that two persons should be allowed to sit in the locomotive cabs of freight trains. The fight is not over.
Safety
The Federal Railroad Administration implements a variety of safety measures to safeguard the health of its employees and public. It is responsible for creating and enforcing rail safety regulations. It also oversees rail funding, and conducts research on improvements to rail strategies and technological developments. It also creates and implements a plan to ensure that current rail services, infrastructure and capacity, and strategically expands and enhances the national rail network. The department expects all rail employers to adhere to the strictest rules and regulations, and empower their employees and provide them with the tools to be successful and secure. This includes participation in the confidential close-call reporting system, setting up occupational health and safety committees with full union participation and protection against retaliation and providing employees with personal protective equipment.
Inspectors of the FRA are at the leading edge of enforcing rail safety laws and regulations. They perform routine inspections on equipment and investigate complaints from hundreds of people. Civil penalties can be applied to those who break railroad safety laws. Safety inspectors from the agency have wide discretion to determine if violations fall within the statutory definition of an act punishable with civil penalties. Additionally 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 both at 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 the employee of a rail company must be aware of the rules and regulations that govern his or her actions. They must also knowingly ignore these rules. However the agency does not take any person who is acting under a direction by a supervisor as having committed an intentional violation. The agency defines the "general railroad system of transportation" as the entire system that passengers and goods travel within cities and metropolitan areas, or between them. The trackage of a plant railroad in the steelmill isn't considered to be part of the general rail transportation system, despite the fact that it's physically connected.
Regulation
The Federal Railroad Administration sets train regulations, including those related to safety and the movement of hazardous materials. The agency also oversees rail financing, including grants and loans for infrastructure and service improvements. The agency works with other DOT agencies as well as industry to develop strategies to improve the nation's rail infrastructure. This includes ensuring the current rail infrastructure and services as well as in addition to addressing the need for additional capacity and strategically expanding the network as well as coordinating regional and national systems planning and development.
The agency is mostly responsible for freight transportation but also supervises passenger transportation. The agency is aiming to provide more options for passengers and connect people to the places they would like to travel to. The agency is focused on enhancing the passenger experience, increasing the safety of the existing fleet, and ensuring that the rail network is operating efficiently.
Railroads must comply with a range of federal regulations, including those relating to the size and composition of crews on trains. In recent times this issue has become a source of controversy. Some states have passed legislation mandating two-person crews in trains. This final rule codifies federally the minimum crew size requirements, ensuring that all railroads adhere to the same safety standards.
This rule also requires that every railroad that has a one-person crew notify FRA and submit a risk analysis. This will allow FRA to compare the parameters of each operation to those of a two-person standard crew operation. This rule also alters the review standard of a special approval request to determine if an operation is "consistent" with railroad safety, to determining if the operation is safer or more secure than a two-person crew operation.
During accidentinjurylawyers for this rule, many people expressed support for the requirement for a two-person crew. A letter from 29 people outlined their concerns that a single crew member might not be as quick to respond to train-related malfunctions or crossing incidents, or assist emergency response personnel at a highway-rail grade crossing. The commenters noted that human factors are responsible for more than half all railroad accidents and believe that a larger team could help ensure the safety of both the train and the cargo it transports.
Technology
Railroads for passenger and freight use various technologies to improve efficiency, improve security, improve safety and more. The rail industry lingo includes a variety of distinct terms and acronyms but some of the more notable 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 merely replacing jobs, it's also empowering people to do their job better and safer. 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 reality.
As part of its ongoing effort to improve secure, reliable and affordable transportation for the nation The Federal Railroad Administration is focused on modernizing its 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 expanded by the recently passed bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a central element in this initiative. The National Academies' recent review of the office concluded that it excelled at engaging, maintaining communications using inputs from a broad range of stakeholders. But it still needs to be more focused on how its research contributes to the department's primary strategic goal of ensuring safe movement of people and goods via rail.
One area in which the agency may be able to improve its effectiveness is in identifying and supporting the development of automated train technology and systems. The Association of American Railroads, the freight rail industry's primary 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.
FRA is interested in the development of an automated rail taxonomy, a standardization system that can clearly and consistently define different levels of automation that would be applicable to both on-road and rail transit vehicles. The agency will want to know the degree of risk that the industry sees in 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, make business processes more efficient and ensure that the cargo it transports arrives at its destination in good condition. Examples of this innovation range from the use of cameras and sensors to track freight, to the latest railcar designs that keep hazardous cargo safe during transport. Some of these technologies even allow railroads to send emergency responders to the scene of an accident so they can swiftly mitigate risks to people and property.
Positive Train Control (PTC) is among the most important innovations in rail. It can keep train-to-train accidents out of the way, as well as situations where trains are on track they shouldn't be, and other accidents caused by human error. This system consists of three components of onboard locomotive systems that track the train; wayside networks which communicate with the locomotive; and a massive server that gathers and analyzes data.
Passenger railroads also embrace technology to improve safety and security. Amtrak, for example, is testing the use of drones in order to help train security personnel locate passengers and items in the event of an emergency. The company is also exploring different ways to use drones, for instance, using them to perform inspections of bridges as well as other infrastructure, like replacing the lighting on railway towers that could be dangerous for workers to climb.
Smart track technology is another technology that can be utilized in railways for passengers. It is able to detect objects or people on tracks and warn motorists that it is not safe to continue. These kinds of technologies can be particularly useful in detecting crossings that are not authorized and other issues during off-hours, when traffic is at its lowest and there are fewer people to witness an accident.
Telematics is another important technological advancement in the rail industry. It allows shippers, railways and other stakeholders, to follow a traincar's progress in real-time. Such capabilities give railcar operators and their crews more accountability and visibility and can assist them in improving efficiency, avoid unnecessary maintenance, and prevent delays in the delivery of freight to customers.