7 Things About Federal Railroad You'll Kick Yourself For Not Knowing
The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology
The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for safety regulations for rail and enforcement, rail funding and research on rail improvement strategies.
FRA inspectors on the ground employ discretion to determine which cases merit the lengthy and precise civil penalty procedure. This ensures 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 persons should be in the cabs of freight locomotives. 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 regulations for rail safety. It also oversees rail funding and conducts research on improvements to rail strategies and technological developments. It also formulates and implements a plan to maintain current rail services, infrastructure and capacity and strategically expands and enhances the national rail network. The department demands that all rail operators adhere to strict rules, empower their employees and provide them with tools to ensure their safety and success. This includes participating in the confidential close call reporting system, establishing occupational health and safety committees, with full participation from unions and anti-retaliation protections and providing employees with personal protection equipment.
Inspectors of the FRA are at the forefront of enforcing rail safety laws and regulations. They conduct regular inspections of equipment and conduct a multitude of investigations into complaints of non-compliance. Civil penalties are applied to those who break the rail safety laws. Safety inspectors from the agency have a broad discretion on whether an individual violation is in line with the statutory definition of a criminal penalty-worthy act. The Office of Chief Counsel's safety division also scrutinizes all reports submitted by regional offices to ensure they are legal before assessing penalties. The exercise of this discretion at both the regional and field levels helps ensure that the time-consuming, costly civil penalty process is utilized only in cases that truly warrant the deterrent effect of a civil penalty.
To be convicted of a civil offense, a rail employee must know the rules and regulations that govern his or her actions. They also must be aware that they disregard these standards. However, the agency does not consider any individual 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 network 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, even though it's physically connected.
Regulation
The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible to establish regulations for train operations including those related to safety and the transportation of hazardous substances. The agency is responsible for managing rail finance, which includes loans and grants for infrastructure and service improvement. The agency collaborates with other DOT agencies as well as industry to develop strategies for improving the nation's rail infrastructure. This work includes maintaining current rail infrastructure and services and addressing the need for new capacity strategically expanding the network and coordinating national and regional systems planning and development.
While most of the agency's work focuses on freight transportation, it also handles passenger transportation. The agency is working to offer more options for passengers and connect people with the places they'd like to go. The agency is focused on improving the passenger experience and increasing the safety of the current fleet, and ensuring the rail network continues to operate efficiently.
Railroads must adhere to a number of federal regulations, including those related to the size of the crews on trains. In recent years, this issue has become a source of controversy. Certain states have passed legislation requiring two-person crews on trains. This final rule codifies the minimum crew size requirements at an international level, and ensures that all railroads are subject to the same safety standards.
This rule also requires that each railroad operating a one-person crew notify FRA and submit an analysis of risk. This will allow FRA to better identify the specifics of each operation and compare them to the parameters of a standard two-person crew operation. This rule also changes the criteria for reviewing a special approval request from determining whether an operation is "consistent" with railroad safety standards to determining whether the operation is safer or less risky than a two-person crew operation.
During the public comment period for this rule, many people backed the requirement of a two-person crew. In fela lawyers expressed their concern that a single crew member will not be able to respond as quickly to train malfunctions or incidents at grade crossings or assist emergency response personnel on an elevated highway crossing. The commenters pointed out that human factors account for more than half of railroad accidents, and they think that a bigger crew will ensure the safety of both the train and the cargo it transports.
Technology
Trains for passenger and freight use different technologies to improve efficiency, enhance safety, and boost security. Rail industry jargon comprises a variety of specific terms and acronyms. Some of the most well-known include machine vision systems (also called drones) and rail-inspection systems that are instrumented driverless trains, rolling data centers, and unmanned aerial vehicle (also called drones).
Technology isn't just about replacing certain jobs. It empowers people to perform their jobs better and with greater security. Railroads that transport passengers are using smartphones and contactless fare payment cards to increase ridership and make the system more efficient. Other developments, like autonomous rail vehicles, are moving closer to becoming a reality.
As part of its ongoing efforts to advance safe, reliable and affordable transportation options for the country The Federal Railroad Administration is focused on modernizing its rail infrastructure. This multi-billion-dollar effort will see tunnels, bridges, tracks and power systems upgraded and stations renovated or replaced. The recently passed bipartisan infrastructure law will dramatically expand the agency's rail improvements programs.
The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a major piece in this effort. Recent National Academies review of the office revealed that it was successful in engaging, maintaining communication and using inputs from a range of stakeholders. But it must concentrate on how its research contributes to the department's primary objective of ensuring the safe movement of goods and people via railway.
One area where the agency could be able improve its effectiveness is in identifying and supporting the advancement of automated train systems and technologies. The Association of American Railroads, the freight rail industry's primary industry organization that focuses on research, policy, and standard setting and has created a Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to help in developing industry standards for implementing the technology.
The FRA is interested in the group’s creation of a taxonomy for automated rail vehicles, a system that defines clearly and consistently the different levels of automation. This would apply to both rail transit and on-road vehicles. The agency will need to know the amount of risk that the industry is assessing with fully automated operation, and whether the industry is considering any additional safeguards to reduce the risk.
Innovation
Railroads are using technology to improve worker safety and make business processes more efficient, and ensure that the cargo that they transport arrives at its destination intact. These innovations include cameras and sensors that monitor freight to new railcar designs which keep hazardous cargo safe during transport. Some of these technologies enable railroads to dispatch emergency responders directly to sites of accidents to reduce the risk and minimize damage to property and people.
One of the most well-known innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC), which will inhibit collisions between trains and train, situations where trains are on tracks where they shouldn't be, and other accidents that result from human error. The system is a three-part process consisting of locomotives onboard that track the train, wayside networks that communicate with the locomotive and an enormous backend server that collects and analyzes data.
Trains for passengers are also adopting technology to improve security and safety. Amtrak is one example. It is experimenting with the use of drones to help security personnel on trains 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 such as replacing the lighting on railway towers, which can be hazardous for workers to climb.
Other technologies that can be used for passenger railroads include smart track technology, which is able to detect the presence of people or objects on the tracks and send out drivers with a warning if it's unsafe for them to proceed. These types of technologies can be particularly useful in detecting crossings that are not authorized as well as other issues that can arise during times when traffic volumes are lowest and there are fewer people around to witness an accident.
Another important technological advancement in the railway industry is telematics which enables railroads, shippers and other stakeholders to see the status and condition of a traincar through real-time tracking. Traincar crews and operators can benefit from increased accountability and visibility which will allow them improve efficiency, avoid unnecessary maintenance and reduce delays when delivering freight.