The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology
The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for rail safety regulations and enforcement, rail funding and research on improving rail strategies.
FRA field inspectors employ discretion to determine which cases are worthy of the precise and lengthy civil penalty process. This helps ensure that the most serious violations are punished.
Members of SMART-TD and their allies have made history in 2024 by pushing the FRA to keep two people in the cabs of locomotives of freight trains. The fight is not over.
Safety
The Federal Railroad Administration has a variety of safety measures in place to ensure the health and welfare of its employees and the general public. It is responsible for developing and enforcing regulations for rail safety. It also oversees rail funding, and conducts research on improvements to rail strategies and technologies. It also develops and implements a strategy to ensure the current infrastructure, rail services and capacity and strategically expands and improves the national rail network. The department expects all rail companies to abide by strict rules and regulations, and empower their employees and provide them with tools to be successful and safe. This includes participation in the confidential close-call reporting system, setting up occupational health and safety committees, with full union participation, as well as anti-retaliation protections and providing employees with personal safety equipment.
Inspectors of the FRA are at the forefront of enforcing safety on rail regulations and laws. They conduct routine inspections on equipment and investigate hundreds of complaints. fela lawsuit settlements can be applied to those who break railroad safety laws. The safety inspectors of the agency have a broad discretion on whether an individual violation is in line with the statutory definition of a crime that is punishable by civil penalties. The Office of Chief Counsel's safety division also scrutinizes the reports submitted by regional offices to ensure they are legal prior to imposing penalties. This discretion is exercised both at the regional and field 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 their actions, and not knowingly violate those standards to commit a civil penalty-worthy offense. However the agency does not consider anyone who follows a directive from a supervisor to have committed a willful violation. The agency defines the "general railroad system of transportation" as the entire system that passengers and goods travel within metropolitan and city areas or between them. The trackage of a plant railroad within the steelmill isn't considered to be part of the overall rail transportation system, even though it's physically connected.
Regulation
The Federal Railroad Administration sets train regulations, ranging from those related to safety and movement of hazardous materials. The agency also oversees rail financing including loans and grants for infrastructure and service improvements. The agency collaborates with other DOT agencies and industry to develop strategies for improving the nation's railroad system. This includes maintaining existing rail infrastructure and services and making sure that there is enough capacity, strategically expanding the network, and coordinating national and regional systems planning and development.
The agency is responsible for freight transportation, but also supervises passenger transportation. The agency aims to connect people to places they'd like to visit and offer more choices for travel. The agency is focused primarily on improving the experience of passengers, enhancing safety of the existing fleet, and ensuring that the rail network is operating efficiently.
Railroads must comply with a variety of federal regulations, which include those that deal with the size and composition of crews on trains. This issue has become a controversial one in recent years, with several states passing legislation to require two-person crews on trains. This final rule codifies federally the minimum size of crew requirements, ensuring that all railroads adhere to the same safety standards.
This rule also requires each railroad operating one-person train crews to notify FRA of the operation and submit a risk assessment. This will enable FRA to evaluate the characteristics of each operation to the standard two-person crew operation. Additionally this rule will change the standard of review for the special approval petition from determining whether the operation is "consistent with railroad safety" to determining whether the operation would be as secure or as safe as an operation with two crew members.
During the public comment period on this rule, many people supported the requirement of a two-person crew. In a letter to the editor, 29 people expressed their concern that a single member of the crew would not be in a position to respond as quickly to incidents or train malfunctions at grade crossings or assist emergency response personnel on the 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 crew will ensure the safety of the train and the cargo it transports.
Technology
Railroads that transport passengers and freight employ various technologies to enhance efficiency, add security, increase safety and more. Rail industry jargon covers various unique 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 merely replacing jobs, it's also empowering people to do their job more efficiently and with greater security. Railroads for passengers use apps on smartphones and contactless fare cards to boost passengership and boost the efficiency of their system. Other innovations, such as autonomous rail vehicles, are inching closer to becoming reality.
The Federal Railroad Administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to promote safe reliable, affordable, and cost-effective transportation in the United States, is focused on modernizing the railway infrastructure. This is a multi-billion dollars project that will see tunnels and bridges repaired, tracks and power systems upgraded, and stations reconstructed or replaced. FRA's recently enacted bipartisan infrastructure law will dramatically expand the agency's rail improvements programs.
The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a key element in this initiative. The National Academies' recent review of the office revealed that it excelled in engaging, maintaining communication with and using inputs from a variety of stakeholders. It must continue to be aware of how its research contributes to the department's main goal of ensuring the safety of goods and people by rail.
The agency could increase its effectiveness by identifying and supporting automated train systems and technologies. The Association of American Railroads, the freight rail industry's primary industry organization that focuses on research, policy and standardization the Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to assist in the development of industry standards for implementing the technology.
FRA is interested in the development of an automated rail taxonomy, a system of standards to clearly and consistently define different levels of automation that could be applicable to both rail and on-road transit vehicles. The agency will want to know the amount of risk that the industry is assessing with fully automated operation, and if the industry is contemplating any additional safeguards to minimize that risk.
Innovation
Railroads are using technology to boost worker safety, make business processes more efficient, and ensure that the freight they move reaches its destination in good condition. Examples of this kind of innovation range from the use of cameras and sensors to track freight, to the latest railcar designs that keep hazardous cargo safe during transport. Certain of these technologies allow railroads to send emergency responders directly to the scene of an accident to reduce the risk and damage to people and property.
Positive Train Control (PTC) is among the most important innovations in rail. It will stop train-to-train accidents, instances where trains are on track they shouldn't be, and other accidents caused by human errors. This system consists of three parts: onboard locomotive systems which track the train; wayside networks which communicate with the locomotive; and a huge server that gathers and analyzes data.
Passenger railroads are also embracing technology to bolster safety and security. Amtrak for instance, is testing the use of drones to help train security personnel find passengers and other items in an emergency. The company is also looking into other ways to use drones, for instance, using drones to inspect bridges and other infrastructure, like replacing the lighting on railway towers, which can be hazardous for workers to climb.
Other technologies that can be utilized for railways for passengers include smart track technology, which is able to detect the presence of people or objects on the tracks and send out drivers with a warning if it's unsafe to travel. These kinds of technology are especially valuable for detecting unauthorized crossings and other problems during off-hours, when traffic volumes are lowest and there are fewer people around to witness an accident.
Another significant technological advance in the rail industry is telematics, which allows railroads, shippers and other stakeholders to see a traincar's status and condition through real-time tracking. Traincar crews and operators can benefit from greater accountability and transparency, which will help them to improve efficiency and avoid unnecessary maintenance. It will also help reduce delays when delivering freight.