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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 field inspectors use discretion to determine which cases are worthy of the precise and time consuming civil penalty process. This allows them to ensure that the most serious violations are punished.

SMART-TD members and allies have 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 has a variety of safety measures in place to safeguard the safety and health of employees and the public. It formulates and enforces safety regulations for rail as well as manages funding for rail and researches strategies for improving rail and technologies. It also develops and implements a plan to maintain current infrastructure, services, and capacity, and strategically expands and improves the nation's rail network. The department demands that all rail operators adhere to strict rules, empower their employees and provide them with the tools to ensure their safety and success. This includes participating in the confidential close-call reporting system, establishing labor-management occupational health and safety committees that have full participation from unions and protection against retaliation and providing employees with needed personal protective equipment.

FRA inspectors are at the forefront of enforcement of rail safety laws and regulations. They conduct routine inspections of equipment and conduct a myriad of investigations into complaints of noncompliance. Civil penalties can be imposed on those who violate railroad safety laws. The safety inspectors of the agency are able to decide on the extent to which an incident falls within the statutory definition of a crime that is punishable by civil penalties. The Office of Chief Counsel's safety division also examines all reports that regional offices submit to determine if they are legal before assessing penalties. The exercise of this discretion at the field and regional levels ensures that the time-consuming, costly civil penalty process is applied only in situations that truly warrant the deterrent effect of a civil penalty.

A rail employee must be aware of rules and regulations that govern their actions, and not knowingly violate those guidelines to commit a civil penalty-worthy offense. However the agency doesn't consider any individual who follows a directive from a supervisor as having 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, or between them. A plant railroad's trackage in a steel mill is not considered to be part of the overall rail system of transportation even although it is physically connected to it.

Regulation

The Federal Railroad Administration sets train regulations, ranging from those related to safety and the movement of hazardous materials. The agency also manages rail financing, including grants and loans for improvements to infrastructure and service. The agency works with other DOT agencies and AccidentInjuryLawyers industry to devise strategies to improve the rail system of the United States. This work includes maintaining current rail infrastructure and services, addressing the need for new capacity and strategically expanding the network and coordinating regional and national systems planning and development.

Although the majority of the agency's activities are focused on freight transportation, it also handles passenger transportation. The agency is working to provide more options for passenger travel and connect people to the places they'd like to travel to. The agency is focused primarily on enhancing the experience for passengers as well as enhancing the safety of its existing fleet and ensuring the rail system continues to operate efficiently.

Railroads must comply with many federal regulations, including those pertaining to the size of crews on trains. This is controversial in recent years, with a few states enacting legislation that requires two-person crews on trains. This final rule establishes federally the minimum size crew requirements, making sure that all railroads follow the same safety standards.

This rule also requires that each railroad that has a one-person crew notify FRA and submit a risk analysis. This will enable FRA to compare the parameters of each operation to the standard two-person crew operation. This rule also alters the review standard of an application for special approval from determining whether an operation is "consistent" with railroad safety, to determining if the operation is as safe or more secure than a two-person crew operations.

During the period of public comments for this rule, a large number of people expressed their support for a requirement of two people on the crew. In a form letter 29 people expressed their concerns that a single crewmember will not be capable of responding as quickly to incidents or train malfunctions at grade crossings or assist emergency personnel on a highway-rail level crossing. The commenters noted that human factors account for more than half of all railroad accidents and they believe that a larger team would help ensure the safety of both the train and the cargo it transports.

Technology

Trains for passenger and freight use various technologies to improve efficiency, improve security, and increase safety. Rail industry jargon includes various specific terms and acronyms. Some of the most prominent include machine vision systems (also known as drones), instrumented rail-inspection systems, driverless train, rolling data centers, and unmanned aerial vehicle (also known as drones).

Technology isn't only able to replace certain jobs. It empowers people to perform their jobs more effectively and with greater security. Railroads that transport passengers use smartphones and contactless fare cards to boost passengership and boost the efficiency of their system. Other innovations, like autonomous rail vehicles, are moving closer to becoming reality.

As part of its ongoing efforts to improve secure, reliable and affordable transportation for the nation, the Federal Railroad Administration is focused on modernizing its rail infrastructure. This is a multi-billion dollars project that will see tunnels and bridges restored tracks, power systems and tracks upgraded, and stations rebuilt or replaced. The recently passed bipartisan infrastructure law will significantly expand the agency's rail improvements programs.

The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a central 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 variety of stakeholders. But it still needs to be more focused on how its research helps the department achieve its primary strategic goal of ensuring the safe movement of goods and people via railway.

The agency could increase its efficiency by identifying and supporting automated train systems and technology. The Association of American Railroads, the freight rail industry's primary business organization that is focused on policy, research and standard-setting the Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to help develop industry standards to implement the technology.

The FRA is interested in the group's development of a taxonomy for automated rail vehicles which defines clearly and consistently different levels of automation. This would apply to rail transit as well as vehicles on the road. The agency will need to know the amount of risk that the industry perceives with fully automated operation, and whether the industry is contemplating any additional safeguards to reduce the risk.

Innovation

Rail companies are embracing technology to increase worker safety, boost efficiency in business processes and ensure that the cargo they transport is delivered intact. These innovations range from sensors and cameras that monitor freight to new railcar designs that keep hazardous cargo safe during transportation. Some of these technologies offer railroads the ability to send emergency response personnel to locations of accidents so they can swiftly mitigate risks to property and people.

Positive Train Control (PTC) is among the most significant developments in rail. It can prevent train-to-train accidents, situations where trains are on track they shouldn't be, and other accidents caused by human error. This system is made up of three parts consisting of locomotives onboard that track the train; wayside networks that communicate with the locomotive; and a massive server that gathers and analyzes data.

Passenger railroads also embrace technology to improve safety and security. For instance, Amtrak is experimenting with the use of drones to assist security personnel in finding passengers and AccidentInjuryLawyers other items aboard trains in the event of an emergency. The company is also examining ways to utilize drones. They could be used to check bridges and other infrastructure, or to replace the lighting on railway towers, which are dangerous for workers to climb.

Smart track technology is a different technology that can be utilized in passenger railroads. It is able to detect people or objects on tracks and notify drivers if it is unsafe to continue. These kinds of technologies can be particularly valuable for detecting unauthorized crossings as well as other issues that can arise in the off-hours, when traffic levels are lower and there are fewer people around to witness an accident.

Telematics is a significant technological breakthrough in the rail industry. It lets railways, shippers, and other stakeholders, to follow a traincar's progress in real-time. These capabilities provide railcar operators and crews greater accountability and transparency and assist them in improving efficiency, avoid unnecessary maintenance, and prevent delays in delivering freight to customers.