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The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

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

FRA inspectors on the ground employ discretion to determine which cases merit the lengthy and precise civil penalty procedure. This discretion helps ensure that those violations most deserving 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 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 safety of its employees and the general public. It creates and enforces rail safety regulations, administers rail funding and researches strategies for improving rail and new technologies. It also creates, implements and maintains a plan for maintaining the current infrastructure and services for rail. It also works to expand and improve the national rail network. The department expects all railroad employers to adhere to strict rules and regulations, empower their workers and provide them with the tools needed to be successful and secure. This includes a confidential 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.

Inspectors of the FRA are at the forefront of enforcing rail safety regulations and laws. They conduct regular inspections of equipment and conduct a myriad of investigations of complaints of non-compliance. Civil penalties are imposed on those who violate the rail safety laws. Safety inspectors from the agency have a wide discretion to determine whether a violation falls under the legal definition of an employers’ liability act fela punishable by civil penalties. The Office of Chief Counsel’s safety division also reviews the reports submitted by regional offices to ensure they are legal before assessing penalties. The exercise of this discretion at both the regional and field levels ensures that the time-consuming, costly civil penalty process is used only in cases that truly warrant the deterrent impact of a civil penalty.

To be considered guilty of a civil offense the employee of a rail company must be aware of the rules and regulations governing the conduct of his or her employees. They must also be aware of and ignore these rules. The agency does not consider an individual who acted in response to a supervisor's direction has committed a willful offence. The agency defines the "general railroad system of transportation" as the entire system that allows passengers and goods to travel within metropolitan areas, or between them. The trackage of a plant railroad in a steelmill is not considered to be part of the general rail transportation system, despite the fact that it's physically connected.

Regulation

The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible to establish regulations for train operations including those related to safety and the transportation of dangerous substances. The agency oversees rail finance, including grants and loan for service and infrastructure improvement. The agency collaborates with other DOT agencies and with industry to devise strategies to improve the country's railroad system. This includes ensuring the existing rail infrastructure and services, addressing the need for additional capacity and expanding the network strategically, and coordinating regional and national system's planning and development.

The agency is mostly responsible for freight transportation but also manages passenger transportation. The agency is working to provide more options for passenger travel and connect people with the places they'd like to travel to. The agency's primary focus is on improving the passenger's experience as well as enhancing the safety of its existing fleet and ensuring the rail network is operating efficiently.

Railroads must abide by a variety of federal regulations, relating to the size of the crews on trains. In recent times the issue has been a source of contention. Some states have passed legislation that requires two-person crews in trains. The final rule codifies the minimum requirements for crew size at a federal level, ensuring that all railroads are held to the same safety standards.

This rule also requires that each 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 those of a two-person standard crew operation. In addition, this rule changes the standard of review for an approval petition that is based on determining whether the operation is "consistent with railroad safety" to determining whether approving the operation would be as secure or as safe as an operation with two crew members.

During the public comment period on this rule, a large number of people backed the requirement for a two-person crew. In a letter to the editor 29 people expressed their concerns that a single crewmember would not be capable of responding as quickly to train malfunctions or incidents at grade crossings, or assist emergency response personnel on a highway-rail level crossing. The commenters emphasized that human factors account for more than half of all railroad accidents and they believe that a larger team would help ensure the safety of both the train and its cargo.

Technology

Freight and passenger rails use a variety of technologies to increase efficiency, improve security, and improve safety. The language used in the rail industry contains a myriad of distinct terms and acronyms but some of the most notable innovations include machine vision systems, instrumentsed rail inspection systems, driverless trains, rolling data centers, and unmanned aerial vehicles (commonly known as drones).

Technology isn't just replacing some jobs -- it's empowering people to do their job more efficiently and with greater security. Railroads that transport passengers are using smartphones apps and contactless fare payment cards in order to boost ridership and make the system more efficient. Other innovations, like autonomous rail vehicles, are moving closer to reality.

The Federal Railroad Administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to ensure safe, reliable, and affordable transportation in America is focusing on modernizing the rail infrastructure. This is a multi-billion dollar project that will see tunnels and bridges restored tracks, power systems and tracks 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 major component of this initiative. Recent National Academies review of the office found that it excelled in engaging with, maintaining communication and utilizing inputs from a variety of stakeholders. But it must focus more on how its research contributes to the department's primary objective of ensuring the safe movement of goods and people via rail.

The agency could increase its efficiency by identifying and implementing automated train systems and technology. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is the main industry association for the freight rail industry, which focuses on research policy, standard-setting and policy, established a Technical Advisory Group for Autonomous Train Operations in order to help develop 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 could apply to both rail transit and on-road vehicles. The agency will also want to know the degree of risk to safety that the industry sees with the introduction of fully automated operation and whether the industry is considering additional protections to minimize the risk.

Innovation

Railroads are using technology to improve worker safety, make business processes more efficient and help ensure that the cargo that they transport arrives at its destination safely. These innovations vary from cameras and sensors that monitor freight to innovative railcar designs which keep hazardous cargo safe during transit. Certain of these technologies allow railroads send emergency responders directly to accident sites to minimize danger and minimize the damages to property and individuals.

One of the most prominent innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC), which will inhibit train-to-train collisions, situations where trains are on tracks they shouldn't be and other accidents that are caused by human mistakes. The system is comprised of three components of onboard locomotive systems that 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 improve safety and security. Amtrak for instance, is testing the use of drones to assist train security staff locate passengers and items in an emergency. Amtrak is also investigating other ways to use drones, for instance, using drones to inspect bridges and other infrastructure, such as replacing the lights on railway towers, which could be hazardous for workers to climb.

Smart track technology is a different technology that can be utilized in railways for passengers. It is able to detect people or objects on tracks and alert drivers that it is unsafe to continue. These technologies are especially useful in detecting crossings that are not authorized or other issues during the evenings when traffic is less and there are less witnesses to an accident.

Telematics is yet another significant technological breakthrough 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 better accountability and transparency and help them improve efficiency, avoid unnecessary maintenance, and prevent delays in delivering freight to customers.