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The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

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

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

SMART-TD members and allies made history in 2024 by pushing the FRA to keep 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 ensure the health and safety of its employees and the general public. It formulates and enforces safety regulations for rail as well as manages funding for rail and researches rail improvement strategies and technologies. It also creates and implements a plan to maintain current infrastructure, services, and capacity and strategically expands and improves the national rail network. The department demands that all rail employers adhere to strict rules, empower their employees and provide them with tools to ensure their safety and success. This includes 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.

Inspectors of the FRA are at the forefront of enforcing safety on rail regulations and laws. They conduct routine inspections of equipment and conduct a multitude of investigations of complaints of non-compliance. Anyone who violates the rail safety laws could be penalized civilly. Safety inspectors from the agency have broad discretion over whether an incident falls within the statutory definition of a crime that is punishable by civil penalties. In addition, the Office of Chief Counsel's safety department reviews all reports that are received from regional offices to determine their legal sufficiency before assessing penalties. The exercise of this discretion both at the field and regional levels ensures that the time-consuming, costly civil penalty process is applied only in those situations which truly warrant the deterrent impact of a civil penalty.

Rail employees must be aware of the rules and regulations that govern his or her actions and be aware of the guidelines to commit a civil penalty-worthy offense. However, the agency does not consider any individual who follows a directive by a supervisor as having committed a willful violation. The agency defines "general railroad system" as the entire network that carries goods and passengers within and between metropolitan areas and cities. The trackage of a plant railroad at a steel mill is not considered part of the general transportation system by rail even though it is physically connected to it.

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 which includes 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 ensuring the current rail infrastructure and services and in addition to addressing the need for additional capacity strategically expanding the network, as well as coordinating regional and national systems planning and development.

The agency is responsible for freight transportation but also manages passenger transportation. The agency aims to connect people to the places they'd like to visit and offer more alternatives for travel. The agency is focused primarily on improving the passenger's experience, enhancing safety of the existing fleet, and ensuring that the rail network is operating efficiently.

Railroads must comply with a variety of federal regulations, including the ones pertaining to the size and composition of the train crews. This is an issue of contention in recent years, with some states passing legislation to require two-person crews on trains. This final rule codifies federally the minimum size crew requirements, ensuring that all railroads follow the same safety standards.

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

During the public comment period on this rule, a lot of people expressed support for a two-person crew requirement. In a formal letter, 29 people expressed their concern that a single member of the crew will not be capable of responding with the speed required to respond to incidents or train malfunctions at grade crossings or assist emergency response personnel on the highway-rail level crossing. Commenters pointed out that human factors are responsible for more than half all railroad accidents. They believe that a larger team would ensure the security of the train and its cargo.

Technology

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

Technology isn't just replacing some jobs -- it's empowering individuals to perform their work better and safer. Railroads that transport passengers are using smartphones apps and contactless fare payment cards to increase ridership and fela improve the efficiency of the system. Other innovations, like autonomous rail vehicles, are inching closer to reality.

The Federal Railroad Administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to ensure secure affordable, reliable, and secure transportation in America is focusing on modernizing the rail infrastructure. This multi-billion dollar project will see bridges, tunnels tracks, power systems and tracks upgraded and stations rebuilt or replace. The FRA's rail improvement program will be greatly expanded by the recently passed bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a key piece in this effort. The National Academies' recent review of the office concluded that it excelled in engaging, maintaining communications with and using inputs from a broad range of stakeholders. But it must focus more on how its research aids in the department's main strategic goal of ensuring the safe transportation of goods and people via railway.

The agency could improve its effectiveness by identifying and supporting automated train systems and technology. The Association of American Railroads (AAR), the primary industry association for the freight rail industry, which focuses on research, policy and standard setting, established the Technical Advisory Group for Autonomous Train Operations in order to help create standards within the industry.

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 could be applicable to rail transit as well as vehicles on the road. The agency would like to know the degree of risk the industry perceives with fully automated operation, and if the industry is considering any additional safeguards to reduce the risk.

Innovation

Rail companies are embracing technology to improve worker safety, boost efficiency in business processes, and ensure that the freight they transport reaches its destination in good condition. These innovations vary from cameras and sensors that monitor freight, to new railcar designs that help keep dangerous cargo safe during transportation. Certain of these technologies allow railroads to dispatch emergency responders directly to accident sites to minimize the 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, and other incidents caused by human error. It is a three-part system comprised of locomotives onboard that track the train, wayside networks that communicate with the locomotive and a massive backend server that gathers and analyzes data.

Passenger railroads are also embracing technology to improve security and safety. For instance, Amtrak is experimenting with the use of 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 looking into ways to make use of drones. They could be used to check bridges and other infrastructure or to replace the lights on railway towers that are dangerous for workers to climb.

Other technologies that could be utilized for passenger railroads include smart track technology that can detect the presence of objects or people on the tracks and send out drivers with a warning if it's unsafe to travel. These technologies are particularly effective in detecting unsafe crossings or other issues in the evenings, when traffic is low and there are less witnesses to an accident.

Telematics is yet another significant technological advance in the rail industry. It allows railways, shippers and other parties to follow a traincar's progress in real-time. These capabilities give railcar owners and their crews more accountability and visibility and can assist them in improving efficiency, prevent unnecessary maintenance and reduce delays in the delivery of freight to customers.