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The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

The Federal Railroad Administration creates and enforces safety regulations for rail The Federal Railroad Administration also provides funding for rail and conducts research on strategies to improve rail infrastructure.

FRA field inspectors employ discretion to decide on which cases warrant the exact and time consuming civil penalty process. This discretion helps ensure that the violations most deserving of punishment are penalized.

SMART-TD, along with its allies, made history in 2024 when they convinced the FRA that two persons should be in the cabs of freight trains. The fight is not over.

Safety

The Federal Railroad Administration has a range of safety measures in place to safeguard the safety and health of employees and the public. It is responsible for creating and enforcing rail safety regulations. It also oversees rail funding and conducts research on improvements to rail strategies and technological developments. It also formulates and implements a plan to ensure the current infrastructure, services, and capacity and strategically expands and improves the national rail network. The department expects 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 participation in the confidential close-call reporting system, setting up labor-management occupational health and safety committees, with full union participation and anti-retaliation protections and providing employees with the necessary personal protection equipment.

FRA inspectors are at the forefront of enforcement of rail safety regulations and laws. They conduct routine inspections of equipment and conduct investigations into hundreds of complaints. Civil penalties are applied to those who break railroad safety laws. The safety inspectors of the agency have broad discretion over whether an individual violation is in line with the statutory description of a crime that is punishable by civil penalties. Additionally the Office of Chief Counsel's safety department examines all reports submitted from regional offices to determine their legality before determining penalties. This discretion is exercised at both the regional and field levels to ensure that civil penalties are only applied in situations that warrant them.

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 does not take any person who acts under a directive from a supervisor to have committed a willful violation. The agency defines "general railroad system" as the entire network that carries goods and passengers between cities and metropolitan areas. 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 is physically connected.

Regulation

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

The agency is mostly responsible for freight transport, but also supervises passenger transportation. The agency is aiming to provide more options for Federal Employers’ Liability act passengers and connect people with the places they'd like to travel to. The agency's primary focus is on enhancing the experience for passengers as well as enhancing the safety of its existing fleet and ensuring the rail network is operating efficiently.

Railroads are required to abide with a variety of federal regulations, including those that deal with the size and composition of crews on trains. This is controversial in recent years, with several states passing legislation that requires two-person crews on trains. This final rule establishes federally the minimum size crew requirements, making sure that all railroads adhere to the same safety standards.

This rule also requires that every railroad operating a one-person crew notify FRA and submit a risk analysis. This will enable FRA to compare the parameters of each operation with the standard two-person crew operation. Additionally, this rule changes the criteria for reviewing an approval petition that is based on determining whether an operation is "consistent with railroad safety" to determining whether approving the operation is secure or as safe as an operation with two crew members.

During the time of public comments for this rule, a number of people voiced their support for a requirement for two people on the crew. A form letter sent by 29 people outlined 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 responsible for more than half all railroad accidents. They believe that a larger team will ensure the security of the train as well as its cargo.

Technology

Freight and passenger railroads employ various technologies to improve efficiency, improve security, increase safety and more. Rail industry jargon includes 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 vehicles (also known as drones).

Technology doesn't just replace some jobs. It allows people to do their jobs better and more safely. Railroads that transport passengers use smartphones and contactless fare cards to boost ridership and increase the efficiency of their system. Other developments, like autonomous rail vehicles, are inching closer to becoming reality.

The Federal Railroad Administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to improve secure reliable, affordable, and cost-effective transportation in the United States is focusing on modernizing the railway infrastructure. This is a multi-billion dollar effort that will see tunnels and bridges repaired as well as tracks and power systems upgraded, and stations rebuilt or replaced. FRA's recently passed bipartisan infrastructure law will substantially expand the agency's rail improvements programs.

The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a central component of this initiative. Recent National Academies review of the office found it excelled at engaging in a continuous dialogue and utilizing the inputs from a range of stakeholders. It is still required to focus on how its research contributes towards the department's primary objective of ensuring the safety of people and goods by railways.

One area in which the agency may be able to increase its effectiveness is in identifying and assisting the development of automated train technology and systems. The Association of American Railroads (AAR), the primary industry association for the freight rail industry that is focused on research and policy, as well as standard setting created the Technical Advisory Group for Autonomous Train Operations to assist in helping create standards within the industry.

The FRA is interested in the group’s creation of a taxonomy for automated rail vehicles, a system that defines clearly and consistently the different levels of automation. This would apply to both rail transit and vehicles on the road. The agency will also be looking to understand the level of safety risk that the industry sees when implementing a fully automated system and whether the industry is contemplating additional protections to minimize the risk.

Innovation

Railroads are adopting technology to boost worker safety, make business processes more efficient and ensure that the cargo that they transport arrives at its destination in good condition. These innovations include cameras and sensors that monitor freight to innovative railcar designs that help keep dangerous cargo safe during transport. Certain of these technologies allow railroads send emergency responders directly to the scene of an accident to minimize risk and damage 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 train, situations where trains are on tracks where they shouldn't be, and other accidents that result from human errors. This system is made up of three parts: onboard locomotive systems which track the train; wayside networks which communicate with the locomotive and a massive server that collects and analyses 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 locate passengers and other items in an emergency. The company is also exploring ways to utilize drones. They could be used to check bridges and other infrastructures or to replace the lights on railway towers that are hazardous for workers to climb.

Smart track technology is a different technology that is used in railways for passengers. It is able to detect people or objects on tracks and warn drivers if it is unsafe to continue. These types of technology are especially beneficial in detecting unsafe crossings and other problems during off-hours, when traffic is at its lowest and there are fewer people around to witness an accident.

Another important technological breakthrough in the railway industry is telematics which enables railroads, shippers and other stakeholders to view the status and condition of a traincar through real-time tracking. Such capabilities give railcar operators and their crews more accountability and transparency and help them improve efficiency, avoid unnecessary maintenance, and prevent delays in delivering freight to customers.