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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 inspectors on the ground employ discretion to determine which cases merit the time-consuming and Fela Lawyer precise civil penalty procedure. This discretion helps ensure that those violations most deserving of punishment are punished.

Allies and members of SMART-TD made history in 2024 by pushing the FRA to keep two people in the cabs of locomotives of freight trains. The fight isn't over.

Safety

The Federal Railroad Administration implements a number of safety measures to protect the health of its employees and public. It is responsible for establishing and enforcing regulations for rail safety. It also manages the funding for rail and studies rail improvement strategies and technological developments. It also develops and implements a plan to ensure the current infrastructure, rail services and capacity, and strategically develops and improves the nation's rail network. The department requires that all rail employers adhere to strict regulations that empower their employees and provide them with tools to be secure and productive. This includes taking part in the confidential close call reporting system, establishing occupational health and safety committees with full union participation and protection against retaliation and providing employees with needed personal protection equipment.

FRA inspectors are on the front lines of enforcement of the rail safety regulations and laws. They perform routine inspections on equipment and investigate hundreds of complaints. Civil penalties are imposed on those who violate rail safety laws. The agency's safety inspectors are able to decide on the extent to which an individual violation is in line with the legal definition of a crime that is punishable by civil penalties. The Office of Chief Counsel's safety division also scrutinizes all reports submitted by regional offices to ensure they are legal prior to imposing penalties. The exercise of this discretion both at the field and regional levels helps ensure that the exacting, time-consuming civil penalty process is applied only in cases which truly warrant the deterrent effect of a civil fine.

To be considered guilty of a civil infringement the employee of a rail company must know the rules and regulations governing the conduct of his or her employees. They must also knowingly not adhere to these rules. The agency doesn't consider an individual who acted on a supervisor's directive has committed a willful offense. The agency defines the "general railroad system of transportation" as the entire system that passengers and goods travel within cities and metropolitan areas and 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 sets train regulations, including those pertaining to safety and movement of hazardous materials. The agency manages rail finance, which includes grants and loan for service and infrastructure improvement. The agency collaborates with other DOT agencies and with industry to develop strategies to improve the country's railroad system. This includes ensuring the current rail infrastructure and services, responding to the demands for capacity expansion and expanding the network strategically and coordinating national and regional system development and planning.

The agency is primarily responsible for freight transportation but also oversees passenger transport. The agency is working to offer more options for passenger travel and connect people to the places they'd like to travel to. The agency's focus is on enhancing the experience for passengers and enhancing the safety of the existing fleet and ensuring the rail system continues to operate efficiently.

Railroads are required to abide with a number of federal regulations, which include the ones pertaining to the size and composition of train crews. This issue has become controversial in recent years, with some states passing legislation to require two-person crews on trains. This final rule outlines the minimum crew size requirements at a federal level, ensuring that all railroads are subject to consistent safety standards.

This rule also requires each railroad operating a one-person train crew to inform FRA of the operation and submit a risk assessment. This will allow FRA to compare the parameters of each operation to the parameters of a standard two-person crew operation. Additionally this rule will change the criteria for reviewing the special approval petition from determining whether the operation is "consistent with railroad safety" to determining if approving the operation would be as safe or safer than a two-crewmember operation.

During the period of public comment for this rule, a lot of people voiced their support for a requirement of two people on the crew. A form letter sent by 29 people outlined their concerns that a lone crewmember could not be as quick to respond to issues with trains or grade crossing incidents or assist emergency responders at a highway-rail grade crossing. The commenters pointed out that human factors account for more than half of all railroad accidents, and they believe that a larger crew will ensure the safety of both the train and the cargo it transports.

Technology

Freight and passenger rails employ different technologies to improve efficiency, enhance safety, and boost security. Rail industry jargon comprises many specific terms and acronyms. Some of the most prominent include machine vision systems (also known as drones) and rail-inspection systems that are instrumented driverless trains, rolling data centers, and unmanned aerial vehicle (also called drones).

Technology isn't just replacing certain jobs, it's also empowering individuals to perform their work more effectively and safely. Passenger railroads use smartphones apps and contactless fare cards to boost ridership and increase the efficiency of their system. Other developments, like autonomous rail vehicles, are inching 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 dollars effort that will see bridges and tunnels rebuilt tracks, power systems and tracks upgraded, and stations rebuilt or replaced. FRA's recently enacted bipartisan infrastructure law will significantly grow the agency's rail improvement programs.

The Office of Research, Development and Technology of the agency is an essential component in this initiative. The National Academies' recent review of the office revealed that it excelled at engaging, maintaining communications using inputs from a variety of stakeholders. However, it needs to focus more on how its research helps the department achieve its primary objective of ensuring the safe transportation of goods and people via railway.

The agency could increase its efficiency by identifying and implementing automated train systems and technologies. The Association of American Railroads, the main freight rail industry industry organization that focuses on research, policy and standard-setting the Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to help develop industry standards for implementing the technology.

The FRA is interested in the group’s development of a taxonomy for automated rail vehicles which defines clearly and consistently the different levels of automation.

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