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 make use of discretion to decide which cases merit the lengthy and precise civil penalty procedure. This discretion helps ensure that the most serious violations of punishment are punished.
Allies and members of SMART-TD made history in 2024 by pushing the FRA to ensure that two people are in the locomotive cab of freight trains. The fight continues.
Safety
The Federal Railroad Administration implements a variety of safety measures to safeguard the health of employees and public. It creates and enforces safety regulations for rail, administers rail funding and researches strategies for improving rail and new technologies. It also formulates plans, implements and maintains an action plan to maintain the current infrastructure and services for rail. It also expands and improves strategically the rail network across the nation. The department demands that all rail employers adhere to strict regulations, empower their employees and provide them with tools to ensure their safety and success. This includes participating in the secure close call reporting system, establishing occupational health and safety committees that have full union participation and anti-retaliation protections and providing employees with the necessary personal safety equipment.
FRA inspectors are on the front lines of enforcement of rail safety regulations and laws. They conduct routine inspections on equipment and conduct investigations into hundreds of complaints. Civil penalties may be handed out to those who violate the rail safety laws. Safety inspectors at the agency have a wide discretion to determine if a violation falls under the statutory definition of an act that is punishable with civil penalties. Additionally, the Office of Chief Counsel's safety department reviews all reports that are received by regional offices for legality prior to assessing penalties. fela lawsuit settlements is exercised both at the field and regional levels to ensure that civil penalties are only applied when they are necessary.
A rail worker must be aware of rules and regulations that govern his actions and knowingly disregard those rules to commit a civil penalty-worthy offense. 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 "general railroad system" as the whole network that carries goods and passengers between cities and metropolitan areas. A plant railroad's trackage in a steel mill is not considered part of the general rail system of transportation, even being physically connected to it.
Regulation
The Federal Railroad Administration sets train regulations, including those related to safety and the movement of hazardous materials. The agency is responsible for managing rail finance, including grants and loan for service and infrastructure improvement. The agency works with other DOT agencies as well as industry to devise strategies for improving the nation's rail system. This includes ensuring the existing rail infrastructure and services, responding to the demands for additional capacity, expanding the network strategically, and coordinating national and regional system development and planning.
The agency is responsible for freight transport, but also manages passenger transportation. The agency aims to connect people to destinations they desire and offer more options for travel. The agency is focused primarily 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, which include the ones pertaining to the size and composition of the train crews. This issue has become controversial in recent years, with a few states enacting legislation that requires two-person crews on trains. This final rule establishes federally the minimum crew size requirements, making sure that all railroads follow the same safety standards.
This law also requires that each railroad that has a one-person crew notify FRA and submit an analysis of risk. This will allow FRA to better identify the specific parameters of each operation and compare them to the parameters of a normal two-person crew operation. This rule also changes 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 safe or safer than two-person crew operations.
During the public comment period for this rule, a lot of people backed the requirement of a two-person crew. In a formal letter 29 people voiced their concern that a single member of the crew would not be in a position to respond as quickly to train malfunctions or incidents at grade crossings, or assist emergency response personnel at the highway-rail level crossing. The commenters emphasized that human factors account for more than half of all railroad accidents and 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 increase efficiency, improve safety, boost security and much more. Rail industry jargon covers various unique 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 about replacing certain jobs. It allows people to perform their jobs better and safer. Passenger railroads use smartphones apps and contactless fare cards in order to increase passengership and boost the efficiency of their system. Other innovations such as autonomous rail cars are coming closer to becoming reality.
As part of its ongoing efforts to ensure 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, power systems, and tracks upgraded and stations being rebuilt or replaced. FRA's recently passed bipartisan infrastructure law will substantially increase the agency's rail improvement programs.
The Office of Research, Development and Technology of the agency is a key element in this effort. The National Academies' recent review of the office found that it excelled at engaging, maintaining communication with and using inputs from a wide range of stakeholders. It must continue to consider how its research contributes towards the department's main goal of ensuring safe movement of people and goods via rail.
One area where the agency may be able improve its effectiveness is in identifying and supporting the advancement of automated train technology and systems. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is the main industry association for the freight rail industry, which focuses on research and policy, as well as standard setting, established a Technical Advisory Group for Autonomous Train Operations to help establish standards for the industry.
FRA is interested in the group's development of an automated rail taxonomy, which is a standardization system that can clearly and consistently define the different levels of automation that could be applicable to both on-road and rail transit vehicles. The agency will want to know the level of risk that the industry is assessing with fully automated operation, as well as whether the industry is considering additional measures to mitigate the risk.
Innovation
Rail companies are adopting technology to improve worker safety, improve efficiency in business processes, and ensure that the cargo they transport arrives at its destination in good condition. Examples of this kind of technological advancement range from the use of cameras and sensors to monitor freight, to new railcar designs that help keep hazardous cargo safe during transit. Some of these technologies offer railroads the ability to send emergency response personnel to areas of accidents so that they can quickly mitigate the damage and minimize risk to people and property.
One of the most well-known innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC) which will prevent train-to-train collisions, situations where trains are on tracks that shouldn't be, as well as other accidents that result from human error. It is a three-part process consisting of onboard locomotive systems that track the train and wayside networks that communicate with the locomotive and a huge backend server that collects and analyzes data.
Trains for passengers are also adopting technology to enhance safety and security. Amtrak is one example. It is testing the use of drones in order to help security personnel on trains locate passengers and other items in an emergency. Amtrak is also investigating different ways to use drones, such as using them to perform inspections of bridges as well as other infrastructure, such as replacing the lights on railway towers, which could be hazardous for workers to climb.
Other technologies that can be used for railways for passengers include smart track technology, which can detect the presence of objects or people on the tracks and send out a warning to drivers if it's unsafe to proceed. These technologies are particularly effective in detecting unsafe crossings or other issues in the evenings when the traffic is lower and there are less witnesses to an accident.
Telematics is another important technological advance in the rail industry. It lets railways, shippers, and other stakeholders, to monitor a traincar in real-time. Such capabilities give railcar operators and their crews more accountability and visibility and can aid in improving efficiency, avoid unnecessary maintenance, and prevent delays in delivering freight to customers.