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The Federal Railroad Administration

The Federal Railroad Administration is one of the DOT's 10 departments that deal with intermodal transportation. Its purpose is to ensure the safe and secure movement of people and goods.

FRA field inspectors examine the railroad track, train control and signal systems, as well as operating practices. They also investigate complaints.

Definition

A federal railroad is a type of rail transport in the United States that is controlled by the federal government. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) establishes and enforces safety rules, oversees funds for railroads, and investigates ways to improve rail transportation systems. The FRA is one of the 10 agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation which is responsible for intermodal transportation. Its chief executive officers are the Administrator and Deputy Administrator.

The agency supervises all freight and passenger transport that is conducted through the nation's rail network. The agency also coordinates government funding for rail transportation and assists in the rehabilitation of Northeast Corridor passenger service. The agency also regulates ownership and operation of intermodal facilities, like tracks, rights of way equipment, real estate and rolling stock. It also manages federal rail transportation programs.

The FRA's duties include establishing, through regulation, following the notice and comments are allowed an avenue through anyone can make a complaint to the Secretary of Homeland Security concerning railroad security issues or inconsistencies. The agency also establishes guidelines, conducts inspections and reviews the compliance of its rail laws in six different technical disciplines, which include track, signal, and train control as well as motive power and equipment; operating practices hazardous materials and highway-rail grade intersections.

The agency has the responsibility of ensuring that the railroad transportation system is operated in a safe, economical, and environmentally friendly way. As a result, the agency requires railroads to ensure the safety of their workers and provide adequate training for their employees. In addition, the agency sets and enforces railroad rates to ensure that the public receives a fair rate for their transportation services.

In addition the Federal Railroad Administration enacts and enforces rules to stop discrimination against railroad employees as well as protects whistleblowers from retaliation by railroad carriers. The agency also has a procedure for railroad employees to file complaints regarding the conduct of their company.

The primary goal of the agency is to ensure safe, reliable and effective movement of goods and people for a stronger America now and in future. The FRA achieves this by overseeing the safety of railroads, regulating railroad assistance programs and conducting research that supports better safety of railroads and national rail transportation policies as well as coordinating and assisting with rail networking development, and helping the private sector manage railroads. In the past, railroads were dominant in the market, with very little competition. This meant that railroads often misused their position in the market. Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission, as and other regulatory agencies, to limit railroad monopolies' abuses.

Purpose

The federal railroad is a federal agency that sets regulations, manages funds for rail and studies ways to improve the nation's rail transportation system. It is responsible for the railroad infrastructure of the United States and supervises passenger and freight railroads. It is one of 10 agencies in the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also charged with maintaining and expanding current rail systems, ensuring the capacity of the rail industry to meet growing demand for freight and travel, as well as providing leadership in national and regional system planning.

The primary responsibility of the government in the railway industry is safety. The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for this. It has a number of divisions that supervise the country's passenger and freight rail operations. The most important of these is the Office of Railroad Safety, with about 350 safety inspectors. It is responsible for conducting inspections to ensure compliance with the regulations in six technical disciplines: track signals, train control, motive power and equipment, operating practices as well as hazmat and highway rail grade crossings.

FRA has additional departments which include the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This department oversees programs aimed to improve passenger and freight rail transportation, like the Northeast Corridor Future. The department also is in charge of the grants that are given to railways and collaborates with other agencies to develop plans for the nation's rail requirements.

Another important function of the FRA is the enforcement of federal laws regarding railroads and their employees. This includes preventing railroads from discriminating against workers, and making sure that injured railway workers are provided with transportation to the nearest hospital for initial aid treatment. Additionally, railroads are prohibited from denying or delaying medical care to injured railway employees.

The FRA is the main regulator of the freight and passenger railway industries, but there are other agencies that oversee the economic aspects of rail transportation. The Surface Transportation Board, for instance, is in charge of setting rates and governing the financial aspects of the industry. It also has the authority to regulate mergers in the railroad industry, line sales construction and abandonment. Other responsibilities include establishing a process through regulations, after a public input opportunity that allows anyone to submit complaints about rail safety violations to the agency.

Functions

Rails transport people and goods from and to cities in the developed world as also to villages in countries that are less developed. They transport raw materials to manufacturing and processing factories, and then the final products from those factories to warehouses and stores. Railroads are a critical form of transportation for many vital commodities, such as coal, oil, and grains. In 2020, freight railroads carried more than a quarter of the freight in the United States [PDF].

The federal railroad is run like any other business. It has departments for marketing and operations, sales and an executive department. The marketing and sales department talks with customers and potential clients to determine what services they need and what they need to cost. The operations department then develops the rail services that meet those requirements at the lowest possible cost in order to earn money for the railroad. The executive department supervises the entire operation and Fela claims makes sure that every department is operating efficiently.

The government helps the railways with a variety ways that include grants and subsidized rates on government traffic. Congress also provides funds to help build new track and stations. These subsidies are often a part of the revenues that railroads receive through ticket sales and freight contracts.

Amtrak is owned by the United States government. It is a quasi public for-profit corporation, which has the United States Government as a major stockholder.

A key purpose of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is to develop and enforce safety regulations for railroads. This includes regulating the mechanical conditions of trains, as well as the health and safety of railroad employees. FRA also collects data about rail security to determine trends areas that require improvement or attention from the regulatory side and to track trends.

FRA also has other projects to improve the safety and efficiency of railroad transportation in the United States. For instance, FRA is working to eliminate obstacles that hinder railroads in implementing positive train control (PTC). PTC is an emergency safety system that utilizes sensors and on-board computers to stop the train when it is too close to a vehicle or object.

History

In the 1820s and 1830s, the first railroads in the United States were built, mostly in New England and Mid-Atlantic. The railroads greatly accelerated industrialization in these areas and also brought more food to the market. This allowed the country to become more self-sufficient and less dependent upon foreign imports, which helped to foster a strong economic base.

In the late nineteenth century, the railroad industry experienced an "Golden Age," during which many new trains that were more efficient were built and passenger travel via train became more popular. This was in large part due to the government's efforts to expand the railroad system. For example the government offered homesteaders grants of land to encourage them to settle in the West, and the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads collaborated to build the first transcontinental railroad which made it possible to travel from New York to San Francisco in six days.

However in the first half of the 20th century, demand for passenger railroad services decreased and other modes of transportation such as automobiles and planes gained in popularity, while the stifling of regulations choked railroads' ability to compete economically. A string of bankruptcies, service cuts, and deferred maintenance was the next step. The misguided federal rail regulations contributed to the decline.

Around 1970 the federal government began to loosen the regulatory burdens on railroads. Surface Transportation Board was created to oversee economic aspects like railroad rates and mergers. The Federal Railroad Administration was also established to set standards for rail safety and is one of 10 agencies of the U.S. Department of Transportation which oversees passenger and freight transportation.

Since then, the infrastructure of the railroads of the United States has seen a lot of investment. The Northeast Corridor, for example was rebuilt to accommodate faster, more modern high speed ground transportation (HSGT) trains. There have also been efforts to develop more efficient freight rail systems. FRA hopes to continue to work with all transportation agencies to ensure safe and reliable rails in the near future. It is the job of FRA to help make sure that the nation's transportation system operates as efficiently as it can.