Why We Are In Love With Federal Railroad (And You Should Too!)
The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology
The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for the safety of rail, regulations and enforcement, as well as funding for rail, and research on rail improvement strategies.
FRA inspectors on the ground make use of discretion to decide which cases merit the lengthy and precise civil penalty process. This allows them to ensure that the most serious violations are penalized.
Members of SMART-TD and their allies have made history in 2024 by pushing the FRA to keep two people in the cabs of locomotives of freight trains. The fight continues.
Safety
The Federal Railroad Administration has a range of safety measures in place to protect the health and welfare of employees and the public. It is responsible for establishing and enforcing rail safety regulations. It also manages the funding for rail and conducts research on improvements to rail strategies and technology. It also develops, implements and maintains plans for the maintenance of current rail services and infrastructure. It also develops and improves the rail network across the nation. The department requires that all rail employers adhere to strict guidelines and empower their employees, and provide them with tools to be secure and productive. This includes participating in an anonymous 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 conduct regular inspections of equipment and conduct a multitude of investigations of complaints of non-compliance. Anyone who is in violation of the rail safety laws could be penalized civilly. The agency's safety inspectors are able to decide on the extent to which an incident falls within the legal definition of a civil penalty-worthy act. Additionally, the Office of Chief Counsel's safety department reviews all reports received by regional offices for legal sufficiency before assessing penalties. This discretion is exercised at the regional and field levels to ensure that civil penalties are only applied when they are necessary.
A rail employee must be aware of rules and regulations that govern their actions and be aware of the standards to commit a criminal offense that is punishable by a civil penalty. However the agency does not consider any individual who acts under a directive from a supervisor to have committed an intentional violation. The agency defines the "general railroad system of transportation" as the entire system over which goods and passengers travel within metropolitan areas and between them. The trackage of a plant railroad at the steel mill isn't considered to be part of the overall transportation system that trains even being physically connected to it.
Regulation
The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for establishing train regulations including those related to safety and the movement of hazardous substances. The agency manages rail finance, including loans and grants to improve service and infrastructure. The agency collaborates with other DOT agencies as well as industry to devise strategies for improving the nation's rail infrastructure. This includes ensuring the existing rail infrastructure and services, addressing the need for new capacity and expanding the network strategically as well as coordinating the regional and national system development and planning.
While most 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 people with the places they would like to go. The agency's focus is on improving the experience of passengers and enhancing the safety of the existing fleet and ensuring the rail system continues to operate efficiently.
Railroads are required to comply with a number of federal regulations, including those relating to the size and composition of the train crews. This is an issue of contention in recent years, with a few states passing legislation that requires two-person crews on trains. The final rule codifies the minimum size of crew requirements at a federal level, ensuring that all railroads are held to the same safety standards.
This law also requires that each railroad operating with a crew of one notify FRA and submit an analysis of risk. This will enable FRA to compare the parameters of each operation with the parameters of a standard two-person crew operation. This rule also alters 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 as secure or safer than two-person crew operation.
During the time of public comment on this rule, a lot of people voiced their support for a requirement for two people on the crew. A letter from 29 people expressed their concern that a lone crewmember could 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. The commenters noted that human factors are responsible for more than half of all railroad accidents, and they believe that a larger team will ensure the safety of the train and its cargo.
Technology
Railroads for passenger and freight use a wide array of technologies to improve efficiency, increase safety, boost security and much more. Rail industry jargon covers a variety of specific terms and acronyms. Some of the most well-known include machine vision systems (also known as drones) and rail-inspection systems that are instrumented, driverless train rolling data centers and unmanned aerial vehicle (also called drones).
Technology isn't just replacing some jobs -- it's empowering people to perform their jobs more effectively and safely. Railroads that transport passengers are using smartphone apps and contactless fare payment cards to improve ridership and make the system more efficient. Other developments like autonomous rail cars are coming closer to becoming reality.
As part of its ongoing effort to improve safe, reliable and affordable transportation for the nation The Federal Railroad Administration is focused on modernizing its rail infrastructure. This is a multi-billion-dollar effort that will see bridges and tunnels restored tracks, power systems and tracks upgraded, and stations reconstructed or upgraded. The FRA's rail improvements program will be substantially extended by the recently passed bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The Office of Research, Development and Technology of the agency is a crucial element in this initiative. The National Academies' recent review of the office found that it excelled in keeping in touch with inputs from a wide range of stakeholders. But it still needs to be more focused on how its research aids in the department's main objective of ensuring the safe movement of people and goods via railway.
One area where the agency could be able to increase its effectiveness is in identifying and assisting the development of automated train systems and technologies. The Association of American Railroads, the freight rail industry's primary business organization that is focused on policy, research and standard setting and has created a Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to help develop industry standards to implement the technology.
The FRA is interested in the 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 know the level of risk to safety that the industry believes is associated with the introduction of fully automated operation and whether or not the industry is contemplating additional security measures to reduce the risk.
Innovation
Rail companies are adopting new technologies to enhance worker safety, increase efficiency in business processes, and ensure that the cargo they transport arrives at its destination intact. Examples of this kind of innovation include the use of cameras and sensors to keep track of freight, and to new railcar designs that help keep hazardous cargo safe during transit. Some of these technologies enable railroads to dispatch emergency personnel directly to accident sites to reduce the risk and damage to people and property.
One of the most renowned innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC) that will stop collisions between trains and trains, situations in which trains are on tracks 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 and wayside networks that connect with the locomotive and an enormous backend server that collects and analyzes data.
Trains for passengers also adopt technology to increase safety and security. Amtrak for instance, is experimenting with drones to assist train security personnel locate passengers and items in an emergency. fela attorneys is also exploring different ways to use drones, including deploying drones to conduct inspections of bridges as well as other infrastructure, like replacing the lighting on railway towers, which could be hazardous for workers to climb.
Other technologies that could be utilized for passenger railroads include smart track technology that can detect the presence of objects or people on the tracks and issue an alert to drivers when it's unsafe for them to proceed. These types of technology are especially beneficial in detecting unsafe crossings and other issues during times when traffic levels are lower and there are fewer people around to witness an accident.
Another important technological breakthrough in the rail industry is telematics which enables railroads, shippers and other stakeholders to view the condition and status of a traincar by real-time tracking. Crews and railcar operators can benefit from greater accountability and transparency, which will help them increase efficiency as well as avoid unnecessary maintenance and reduce delays when delivering freight.