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The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

The Federal Railroad Administration creates and enforces rail safety regulations The Federal Railroad Administration also provides funding for rail and studies strategies for improving rail safety.

FRA field inspectors make use of discretion to decide which cases warrant the exact and time consuming civil penalty process. This discretion helps to ensure that the most serious violations are penalized.

SMART-TD members and allies made history in 2024 when they began pushing the FRA to allow two people in the cabs of locomotives of freight trains. The fight continues.

Safety

The Federal Railroad Administration has a variety of safety measures in place to protect the health and safety of employees and the public. It is responsible for developing and enforcing safety regulations for rail. It also administers rail funding, and conducts research on improvements to rail strategies and technology. It also formulates and implements a strategy to maintain current infrastructure, services, and capacity and strategically expands and improves the national rail network. The department expects all railroad employers to abide by strict rules and regulations, empower their workers and provide them with tools to be successful and safe. This includes the confidential close-call reporting system, establishing labor-management occupational safety and health committees with full-union participation and antiretaliation provisions and providing employees with the needed personal protective gear.

Inspectors of the FRA are at the forefront of enforcing rail safety laws and regulations. They perform routine inspections on equipment and conduct investigations into hundreds of complaints. Civil penalties are handed out to those who violate railroad safety laws. The safety inspectors of the agency have broad discretion over whether an incident falls within the legal definition of a criminal penalty-worthy act. The Office of Chief Counsel’s safety division also examines the reports that regional offices submit to ensure they are legal prior to imposing penalties. This discretion is exercised at the field and regional levels to ensure that civil penalties are only used when they are necessary.

Rail employees must be aware of the rules and regulations that govern their actions and be aware of the rules to commit a civil penalty-worthy offense. However, the agency does not consider anyone who acts under a directive from a supervisor as having committed an intentional violation. The agency defines the "general railroad system of transportation" as the entire network over which goods and passengers travel within cities and metropolitan areas and between them. A plant railroad injury fela lawyer's trackage in the steel mill isn't considered part of the general transportation system that trains even although it is physically connected to it.

Regulation

The federal employers’ liability Railroad Administration is responsible for establishing train regulations that pertain to safety and the movement of hazardous substances. The agency also manages financing for rail including loans and grants for infrastructure and improvements to service. The agency works with other DOT agencies as well as industry to devise strategies to improve the rail system of the United States. This includes maintaining current rail services and infrastructure and making sure that there is enough capacity strategically expanding the network and coordinating regional and national systems planning and development.

The agency is responsible for freight transportation, but also manages passenger transportation. The agency is working to connect people with the places they'd like to visit and offer more choices for travel. The agency is focused on improving the passenger experience and increasing the safety of the current fleet, and ensuring 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. In recent times the issue has been a source of contention. Certain states have passed legislation requiring two-person teams on trains. This final rule outlines the minimum requirements for crew size at an international level, and ensures that all railroads are held to the same safety standards.

This also requires every railroad that has a one-person train crew to notify FRA of the operation and submit an assessment of risk. This will allow FRA to identify the specific parameters of each operation and compare them with the typical two-person crew operation. This rule also changes the review standard of an approval request that is a special case from determining if an operation is "consistent" with railroad safety to determining if the operation is as secure or less risky than a two-person crew operations.

During the time of public comment on this rule, a large number of people voted for a requirement of a two person crew. In a formal letter, 29 people expressed their concern that a single crew member would not be capable of responding as quickly to train accidents or malfunctions at grade crossings, or assist emergency response personnel at a highway-rail level crossing. The commenters noted that human factors account for more than half of railroad accidents and believe that a larger team will ensure the safety of the train and the cargo it transports.

Technology

Freight and passenger rails use a variety of technologies to increase efficiency, enhance safety, and boost security. The language used in the rail industry includes a variety of specific terms and acronyms, but some of the more notable innovations include machine vision systems, instrumented rail inspection systems, driverless trains, rolling data centers and drones that are not piloted (commonly called drones).

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

As part of its ongoing effort to advance secure, reliable and affordable transportation for the nation In its ongoing effort to ensure safe, reliable and affordable transportation for the nation, the Federal Railroad Administration is focused on modernizing its rail infrastructure. This is a multi-billion dollar initiative that will see tunnels and bridges rebuilt, tracks and power systems upgraded, and stations rebuilt or replaced. The recently passed bipartisan infrastructure law will dramatically expand the agency's rail improvements programs.

The Office of Research, Development and Technology of the agency is a key part of this effort. Recent National Academies review of the office found it excelled at engaging, maintaining communication and using inputs of a wide range of stakeholders. However, it needs to be more focused on how its research aids in the department's main strategic goal of ensuring the safe movement of goods and people by rail.

One area in which the agency might be able to increase its effectiveness is by identifying and assisting the advancement of automated train technology and systems. The Association of American Railroads, the freight rail industry's primary industry organization that focuses on policy, research and standard setting the Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to help develop industry standards to implement the technology.

The FRA is interested in the group’s development of a taxonomy to describe automated rail vehicles which defines clearly and consistently different levels of automation. This would apply to rail transit as well as vehicles on the road. The agency will also need to know the level of risk to safety that the industry perceives associated with implementing fully automated operation and whether the industry is considering adding additional safeguards to mitigate that risk.

Innovation

Rail companies are adopting technology to increase worker safety, boost efficiency in business processes and ensure that the freight they transport arrives at its destination intact. These innovations include cameras and sensors that monitor freight to new railcar designs that keep hazardous cargo safe during transit. Some of these technologies even provide a way for railroads to dispatch emergency personnel to areas of accidents so that they can swiftly reduce damage and minimize risk to property and lives.

One of the most prominent innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC) which will prevent train-to-train collisions, situations where trains are on tracks that shouldn't be, and other accidents resulting from human mistakes. This system is made up of three components of onboard locomotive systems that track the train; wayside networks which communicate with the locomotive; and a massive server that collects and analyses data.

Trains for passengers are also adopting technology to enhance security and safety. Amtrak, for example, is experimenting with drones to help security personnel on trains locate passengers and other items in an emergency. Amtrak is also looking into ways to make use of drones. They could be used to check bridges and other infrastructures or to replace the lighting on railway towers that are dangerous for workers to climb.

Smart track technology is a different technology that can be used in railways that transport passengers. It is able to detect objects or people on tracks and notify motorists that it is not safe to continue. These technologies are especially useful for detecting unauthorized crossings or other issues during the evenings, when traffic is low and there are fewer witnesses to an accident.

Telematics is yet another significant technological advancement in the railway industry. It allows railways, shippers and other stakeholders, to follow a traincar's progress in real-time. These capabilities provide railcar operators and crews greater accountability and visibility and can assist them in improving efficiency, prevent unnecessary maintenance and reduce delays in delivering freight to customers.