The Federal Railroad Administration

The Federal Railroad Administration is one of the DOT's 10 agencies that deal with intermodal transportation. Its goal is to facilitate the secure and reliable transportation of both people and goods.

FRA field inspectors regularly inspect railroad track, signal and train control systems as well as operating procedures. They also investigate complaints.

Definition

A federal railroad is a railway in the United States that is controlled by the federal government. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, formulates and enforces regulations governing railways as well as manages funds from railroads and conducts research to improve rail transportation. The FRA is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's intermodal transportation division and its chief executives are the Administrator and the Deputy Administrator.

The agency is responsible for all passenger and freight transportation that is conducted through the nation's rail network. Additionally the agency supports the rehabilitation of Northeast Corridor rail passenger service and consolidates support from the fela federal employers liability act government for rail transportation activities. Additionally, the agency oversees the management and ownership of all intermodal facilities such as tracks, right-of-way equipment and real property as well as rolling stock, and also provides the overall coordination of federal rail transportation programs.

FRA's responsibilities include establishing through regulation, following an notification and comment the procedure by which anyone can submit a submit a report to the Secretary of Homeland Security concerning railroad security issues or shortcomings. Additionally, the FRA sets up policies and conducts inspections to assess the compliance of its rail safety regulations in six technical disciplines that include track signals and train control, motive power and machinery, operating practices, hazmat and highway-rail grade crossings.

The agency is responsible of making sure that the railroad transportation system operates in a secure, efficient and sustainable manner. The agency also demands that railroads maintain a safe work environment and provide adequate training for their employees. The agency also determines and enforces the cost of railroad services to ensure that the public is billed fair prices for transportation services.

The Federal Railroad Administration also enacts and enforces rules to stop discrimination towards railroad employees. They also shield whistleblowers against retaliation from railroad carriers. The agency also has procedures for railroad employees can make complaints regarding the company's actions.

The primary goal of the agency is to ensure safe, reliable and effective movement of goods and people for a stronger America today and in the future. The FRA achieves this by regulating railroad safety, managing programs for assistance to railroads conducting research to help improved railroad safety and national rail transportation policies, coordinating and supporting the development of a rail network and assisting the private sector manage railroads. In the past, railroads were large monopolies that had no competition. This meant that the industry often abused its position in the market. Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission, as along with other regulatory agencies to control railroad monopolies' abuses.

Purpose

The federal railroad is a federal agency that establishes regulations, manages funds for rail and studies ways to improve the nation's rail transport system. It manages the railroad infrastructure of the United States and supervises freight and passenger railroads. It is one of ten agencies of the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also charged with maintaining and expanding current rail systems, as well as ensuring the capacity of the rail industry to meet increasing travel and freight demands and providing leadership in national and regional system planning.

Safety is the government's main responsibility in the field of rail transportation. The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for this. It has a variety of divisions that oversee the country's passenger and freight railroad operations. The Office of Railroad Safety is the largest of these with approximately 350 inspectors. It is responsible for conducting safety inspections across six technical disciplines, including track signalling, and train control equipment and motives operating procedures, hazmat and highway-rail grade crossings.

FRA has other departments, including the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This oversees the programs that aim to improve freight and passenger rail transportation, such as the Northeast Corridor Future. This department is also responsible for the grants that are made to help railways, and it works with other agencies to plan for the nation's rail requirements.

The FRA also has a responsibility to enforce federal laws related to railroads and their workers. This includes stopping railroads from discriminating against workers and ensuring that injured railway workers are transported to the nearest hospital for first aid treatment. Additionally, railroads are prohibited from refusing or delaying medical treatment for injured railway employees.

The FRA is the primary regulator of the passenger and freight rail industry, but other agencies oversee the economic aspects of rail transportation. Surface Transportation Board is responsible for setting rates and managing the economics of the industry. It is also the regulator for railroad mergers, line sales, construction and abandonment. Other responsibilities include establishing rules following an opportunity for public input, by which anyone may submit complaints about rail safety violations to the agency.

Functions

Railroads transport people and goods to and from cities in developed nations, as well as remote villages in less developed countries. They transport raw materials from manufacturing and processing facilities, and finished products from these facilities to warehouses or stores. Railroads are an essential mode of transportation for many essential commodities, such as coal, oil and grains. In 2020, freight railroads transported more than a quarter of the freight in the United States [PDF].

Federal railroads function just like any other company, with departments for marketing, operations, sales, and an executive department. The marketing and sales department talks with customers and potential clients to determine the services they require and what they will cost. The operations department then produces the rail services that satisfy those requirements at the cheapest cost to generate revenue for the railroad. The executive department oversees the entire operation, making sure every department is operating efficiently.

The government offers support to the railways in a variety of ways including grants, to subsidised rates for shipping government traffic. Congress also provides funds to support and build new tracks and stations. These subsidies are often in addition to the revenue the railroads receive from ticket sales and freight contracts.

In the United States, the government owns the railway for passengers, Amtrak. It is a quasi-public for-profit corporation, which has the United States Government as a major stockholder.

The Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) main function is to develop and enforce safety regulations for railroads. This involves regulating the mechanical condition of trains and the health and safety of railroad employees. FRA also collects data on rail security to identify patterns, areas that need improvement or attention from regulators and to determine trends.

FRA also participates in other projects that help improve the safety and efficiency of railroad transportation in the United States. For instance, FRA aims to reduce barriers that might hinder railroads' implementation of positive train control systems (PTC). PTC is a safety system that makes use of sensors and computers to stop a train automatically when it is too close to an vehicle or object.

History

In the 1820s-1830s the first railroads in America were constructed, mostly in New England and Mid-Atlantic. Railroads helped speed up industrialization and brought more food items to market in these areas. This allowed the country to become more independent and less dependent on imports from abroad, which resulted in a solid economic base.

In the 19th century's final years the railroad industry experienced a "Golden Age" during which new, more efficient rail lines were built and passenger travel became popular. The government's efforts in expanding the railroad system was a major aspect. The government, for instance granted homesteaders land grants to encourage them to settle the West. Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads also worked together to build the first transcontinental railroad which allowed passengers to travel from New York City to San Francisco in just six days.

However in the early part of the 20th century, demand for railroad passenger services slowed and other transportation options like automobiles and planes gained in popularity, while the stifling of regulations hampered railroads' ability to compete economically. A series of bankruptcies, service cuts, and deferred maintenance was the next step. In addition, misguided railroad regulations from the federal government led to the decline of the railroad industry.

Around the year 1970 the federal government started to ease the regulatory burdens on railroads. Surface Transportation Board was created to oversee economic aspects such as railroad rates and mergers. The Federal Railroad Administration was also established to set rules for safety in rail and is one of 10 agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation which oversees passenger and freight transportation.

Since then, a large deal of investment has been made in the country's railway infrastructure. The Northeast Corridor, for example was rebuilt to accommodate more efficient, faster and modern high-speed ground transportation (HSGT) trains. The effort has also been made to develop more efficient freight rail systems. FRA hopes to continue to work with all transportation agencies to ensure the safety and reliability of rails in the near future. It is the responsibility of FRA to ensure that the transportation system of the United States operates as efficiently as possible.