The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

The Federal Railroad Administration creates and enforces safety regulations for rail, provides rail funding and researches rail improvement strategies.

FRA field inspectors employ discretion to decide on which cases are worthy of the precise and lengthy civil penalty process. This discretion helps ensure that the most serious violations of punishment are penalized.

SMART-TD members and allies made history in 2024 by pushing the FRA to keep two people in the locomotive cab of freight trains. The fight continues.

Safety

The Federal Railroad Administration has a range of safety measures in place to ensure the health and welfare of employees and the public. It is responsible for establishing and enforcing safety regulations for rail. It also manages rail funding, and conducts research on improvements to rail strategies and technologies. It also creates plans, implements and maintains a plan for maintaining current rail services and infrastructure. It also develops and improves the national rail network. The department requires all railroad employers to adhere to the strictest rules and regulations, empower their employees and provide them with the tools needed to be successful and secure. This includes participating in an anonymous close-call reporting system, creating labor-management occupational safety and health committees, with full union participation and antiretaliation provisions and providing employees with the required personal protective equipment.

FRA inspectors are on the front lines of enforcement of railway safety laws and regulations. They perform routine inspections on equipment and investigate complaints from hundreds of people. Anyone who violates the rail safety laws could be subject to civil penalties. The agency's safety inspectors have a broad discretion on whether a particular violation meets the statutory definition of a civil penalty-worthy act. In addition, the Office of Chief Counsel's safety division reviews all reports that are received from regional offices to determine their legality prior to assessing penalties. This discretion is exercised at the field and regional levels to ensure that civil penalties are only used in cases that warrant their use.

Rail employees must be aware of the rules and regulations that govern their actions, and not knowingly violate those rules to commit a criminal offense that is punishable by a civil penalty. However the agency doesn't consider anyone who is acting under a direction by a supervisor as having committed an intentional violation. The agency defines the "general railroad system of transportation" as the entire network that passengers and goods travel within metropolitan and city areas or between them. The trackage of a plant railroad within the steel mill is not considered to be part of the overall rail transportation system, despite the fact that it's physically connected.

Regulation

The federal employers liability Railroad Administration is responsible for establishing regulations for trains, such as those relating to safety and the movement of hazardous substances. The agency is responsible for managing railway finance, including grants and loan for service and infrastructure improvement. The agency collaborates with other DOT agencies and industry to develop strategies to improve the nation's railway system. This includes ensuring the existing rail infrastructure and services, addressing the needs for new capacity, expanding the network strategically as well as coordinating the regional and national system's development and planning.

The agency is primarily responsible for freight transportation but also manages passenger transportation. The agency is working to provide more options for passenger travel and connect people with the places they want to travel to. The agency's primary focus is on improving the passenger's experience as well as enhancing the safety of its existing fleet and ensuring the rail network continues operating efficiently.

Railroads must comply with many federal regulations, relating to the size of crews on trains. In recent years this issue has become a source of controversy. Certain states have passed legislation requiring two-person crews on trains. This final rule codifies federally the minimum size of crew requirements, making sure that all railroads adhere to the same safety standards.

This law also requires that each railroad operating a one-person crew notify FRA and submit an analysis of risk. This will allow FRA to identify the specifics of each operation and compare them to the standard two-person crew operation. In addition this rule will change the standard of review for a special approval petition from determining whether the operation is "consistent with railroad safety" to determining if approving the operation would be as safer or more secure than a two-crewmember operation.

During the time of public comment for this rule, a large number of people voiced their support for a requirement for a two person crew. In a form letter 29 people voiced their concern that a single crewmember would not be capable of responding in a timely manner to train malfunctions or incidents at grade crossings, or assist emergency response personnel on the highway-rail level crossing. The commenters emphasized that human factors are responsible for more than half of railroad accidents, and they think that a bigger crew will ensure the safety of both the train and its cargo.

Technology

Trains for passenger and freight use different technologies to improve efficiency, increase safety, and boost security. The rail industry vernacular contains a myriad of specific terms and acronyms, but some of the more notable innovations include machines-vision systems, instrumented rail inspection systems, driverless trains rolling data centers and unmanned aerial vehicles (commonly known as drones).

Technology doesn't just replace some jobs. It empowers people to perform their jobs more effectively and safer. Passenger railroads use smartphones apps and contactless fare cards to boost ridership and improve the efficiency of their system. Other innovations, like autonomous rail vehicles, are moving closer to becoming reality.

As part of its ongoing effort to ensure safe, reliable and affordable transportation options for the country In its ongoing effort to ensure safe, reliable and affordable transportation for the nation, the federal employers’ liability act Railroad Administration is focused on modernizing its rail infrastructure. This multi-billion-dollar project will see tunnels, bridges tracks, power systems and tracks upgraded and stations renovated or replaced. FRA's recently enacted bipartisan infrastructure law will substantially expand the agency's rail improvements programs.

The Office of Research, Development and Technology of the agency is a crucial component in this initiative. The National Academies' recent review of the office concluded that it excelled at keeping in touch using inputs from a wide range of stakeholders. But it still needs to concentrate on how its research aids in the department's main objective of ensuring the safe movement of goods and people by railway.

The agency could increase its effectiveness by identifying and implementing automated train systems and technology. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is the principal industry association for the freight rail industry that focuses on research, policy and standard setting, established a Technical Advisory Group for Autonomous Train Operations to assist in helping establish standards for the industry.

FRA will be interested in the group's creation of an automated rail taxonomy. It is a system of standards to clearly and consistently define the different levels of automation that will be applicable to both on-road and rail transit vehicles. The agency would like to know the degree of risk that the industry perceives with fully automated operation, and whether the industry is considering additional measures to mitigate that risk.

Innovation

Rail companies are adopting new technologies to increase worker safety, improve efficiency in business processes, and ensure that the cargo they transport reaches its destination intact. These innovations include cameras and sensors that monitor freight to new railcar designs that help keep dangerous cargo safe during transportation. Certain of these technologies allow railroads dispatch emergency responders directly to accident sites to minimize risk and damage to property and people.

Positive Train Control (PTC) is one of the most significant innovations in rail. It will keep train-to-train accidents out of the way, as well as situations when trains are in a position they shouldn't be, and other accidents caused by human errors. The system is a three-part system consisting of onboard locomotive systems that track the train and wayside networks that communicate with the locomotive, and a massive backend server that collects and analyzes data.

Railroads that transport passengers also use technology to improve security and safety. Amtrak is one example. It is experimenting with drones to assist train security staff locate passengers and other items in the event of an emergency. The company is also exploring other possibilities to utilize drones, including deploying them to perform inspections of bridges and other infrastructure such as replacing the lighting on railway towers that could be dangerous for workers to climb.

Other technologies that can be utilized for passenger railroads include smart track technology, which can detect the presence of people or objects on the tracks and issue a warning to drivers if it's unsafe to proceed. These kinds of technologies are particularly valuable for detecting unauthorized crossings as well as other issues that can arise during times when traffic volumes are lowest and there are fewer people to witness an accident.

Telematics is yet another significant technological advancement in the rail industry. It lets railways, shippers, and other stakeholders, to track a traincar in real-time. These capabilities give railcar owners and crews better accountability and visibility and can help them improve efficiency, avoid unnecessary maintenance, and prevent delays in delivering freight to customers.