The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for safety regulations for rail and enforcement, rail funding, and research on rail improvement strategies.

FRA field inspectors use discretion to decide on which cases are worthy of the precise and time consuming civil penalty process. This ensures that the most serious violations of punishment are penalized.

Allies and members of SMART-TD have made history in 2024 by pushing the FRA to ensure that two people are in the locomotive cab of freight trains. The fight is not over.

Safety

The Federal Railroad Administration has a variety of safety measures in place to ensure the safety and health of employees and the public. It is responsible for creating and enforcing safety regulations for rail. It also manages the funding for rail and conducts research on rail improvement strategies and technologies. It also formulates and implements a strategy to ensure the current infrastructure, services, and capacity, and strategically expands and improves the national rail network. The department requires all rail employers liability act fela to abide by strict rules and regulations, and empower their employees and provide them with the tools needed to be successful and secure. This includes taking part in an anonymous close-call reporting system, creating labor-management occupational safety and health committees that have full-union participation and antiretaliation provisions and giving employees the necessary personal protective gear.

FRA inspectors are at the forefront of enforcement of rail safety regulations and laws. They perform routine inspections on equipment and conduct investigations into hundreds of complaints. Anyone who is in violation of the rail safety laws could be punished with civil penalties. Safety inspectors from the agency are able to decide on the extent to which an incident falls within the legal definition of a crime that is punishable by civil penalties. In addition the Office of Chief Counsel's safety department reviews all reports received by regional offices for legal sufficiency before assessing penalties. The exercise of this discretion at both the field and regional levels helps ensure that the lengthy, time-consuming civil penalty process is utilized only in cases that truly warrant the deterrent impact of a civil penalty.

A rail employee must be aware of rules and regulations that govern his or her actions, and not knowingly violate those guidelines to commit a civil penalty-worthy offense. However, the agency does not consider any individual who is acting under a direction from a supervisor to have committed a willful violation. The agency defines "general railroad system" as the whole network that transports passengers and goods within and between metropolitan areas and cities. The trackage of a plant railroad within the steel mill is not considered to be part of the general rail transportation system, even though it is physically connected.

Regulation

The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for establishing regulations for trains that pertain to safety and the movement of dangerous substances. The agency oversees rail finance, which includes loans and grants to improve service and infrastructure. The agency collaborates with other DOT agencies and with industry to devise strategies to improve the nation's railway system. This includes ensuring the existing rail infrastructure and services as well as making sure that there is enough capacity, strategically expanding the network, and coordinating national and regional systems planning and development.

The agency is primarily responsible for freight transportation, but also supervises passenger transportation. The agency is working to provide more options for passenger travel and connect people with the places they would like to travel to. The agency is focused primarily on improving the experience of passengers and enhancing the safety of the current fleet, and making sure that the rail network is operating efficiently.

Railroads must abide by a variety of federal regulations, including those related to the size of crews on trains. This issue has become a controversial one in recent years, with some states enacting legislation that requires two-person crews on trains. This final rule outlines the minimum requirements for crew size at an international level, and ensures that all railroads are subject to consistent safety standards.

This rule also requires each railroad that has a one-person train crew to notify FRA of the operation and submit a risk assessment. This will allow FRA to 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 application for special approval from determining whether an operation is "consistent" with railroad safety, to determining if the operation is as safe or safer than two-person crew operation.

During the period of public comments for this rule, a number of people voted for a requirement of two persons on the crew. A letter from 29 individuals emphasized their concerns that a single crew member might not be as quick to respond to train-related malfunctions or crossing incidents, or assist emergency response personnel at a highway-rail grade crossing. Commenters pointed out that human factors are the reason for more than half all railroad accidents. They believe that a larger team could ensure the security of the train and its cargo.

Technology

Freight and passenger railroads employ a wide array of technologies to enhance efficiency, improve safety, boost security and more. Rail industry jargon comprises many specific terms and acronyms. Some of the most well-known include machine vision systems (also known as drones), instrumented rail-inspection systems driverless trains, rolling data centers, and unmanned aerial vehicles (also known as drones).

Technology doesn't just replace some jobs. It empowers people to perform their jobs more effectively and with greater security. Passenger railroads are using smartphones and contactless fare payment cards to improve ridership and make the system more efficient. Other innovations, like autonomous rail vehicles, are inching closer to becoming reality.

The Federal Railroad Administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to ensure secure reliable, affordable, and cost-effective transportation in America is focusing on modernizing the rail infrastructure. This is a multi-billion-dollar effort that will see tunnels and bridges restored as well as tracks and power systems upgraded, and stations reconstructed or replaced. The FRA's rail improvements program will be substantially increased by the recently approved bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a key element in this initiative. The most recent National Academies review of the office revealed that it was successful in engaging in a continuous dialogue and utilizing the inputs from a range of stakeholders. However, it needs to concentrate on how its research helps the department achieve its primary strategic goal of ensuring the safe transportation of goods and people by railway.

One area in which the agency may be able to increase its effectiveness is by identifying and assisting the development of automated train systems and technologies. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is the main industry association for the freight rail industry that focuses on research policy, standard-setting and policy, established a Technical Advisory Group for Autonomous Train Operations to assist in helping develop standards within the industry.

FRA is interested in the group's creation of an automated rail taxonomy, which is 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 also be looking to know the degree of risk to safety that the industry sees when implementing a fully automated system and whether the industry is considering adding additional protections to minimize the risk.

Innovation

Rail companies are embracing technology to improve worker safety, increase efficiency in business processes, and ensure that the cargo they transport is delivered in good condition. Examples of this technological advancement range from the use of cameras and sensors to monitor freight, to new railcar designs that help keep hazardous cargo safe during transport. Some of these technologies even allow railroads to send emergency response personnel to areas of accidents so that they can swiftly reduce damage and minimize risk to people and property.

One of the most well-known innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC) that will stop collisions between trains and trains, situations in which trains are on tracks that shouldn't be, and other accidents that are caused by human mistakes. The system is a three-part process consisting of locomotives onboard that track the train and wayside networks that communicate with the locomotive, and an enormous backend server that analyzes and collects data.

Trains for passengers are also adopting technology to improve security and safety. For instance, Amtrak is experimenting with drones to assist security staff in locating passengers and other items aboard trains in the event in the event of an emergency. Amtrak is also investigating other possibilities to utilize drones, such as using drones to inspect bridges as well as other infrastructure, for example, replacing the lights on railway towers, which can be dangerous for workers to climb.

Smart track technology is a different technology that can be utilized in passenger railroads. It is able to detect objects or people on tracks and notify motorists that it is not safe to continue. These types of technology are especially beneficial in detecting unsafe crossings as well as other issues that can arise during times when traffic volumes are lowest and there are fewer people around to witness an accident.

Telematics is a significant technological breakthrough in the rail industry. It allows shippers, railways and other stakeholders, to follow a traincar's progress in real-time. Traincar crews and operators can benefit from increased accountability and transparency which can help them increase efficiency and avoid unnecessary maintenance. It will also help reduce delays when delivering freight.