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The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

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

FRA field inspectors use discretion to decide on which cases are worthy of the precise and time-consuming civil penalty process. This discretion helps ensure that the most serious violations of punishment are penalized.

Allies and members of SMART-TD made history in 2024 when they began pushing the FRA to allow two people in the locomotive cab of freight trains. The fight is not over.

Safety

The Federal Railroad Administration has a variety of safety measures in place to protect the health and welfare of employees as well as the general public. It creates and enforces safety regulations for rail and oversees the funding for rail. It also studies strategies for improving rail infrastructure and technologies. It also formulates the implementation and maintenance of a plan for maintaining the current infrastructure and services for rail. It also expands and improves strategically the rail network across the nation. The department expects all rail companies to adhere to strict rules and regulations, and empower their employees and provide them with the tools needed to be successful and secure. This includes participating in the secure close call reporting system, setting up occupational health and safety committees, with full participation from unions and anti-retaliation protections and providing employees with personal protection equipment.

FRA inspectors are on the front lines of enforcement of rail safety regulations and laws. They perform routine inspections on equipment and investigate complaints from hundreds of people. Civil penalties may be handed out to those who violate the rail safety laws. Safety inspectors from the agency have broad discretion over whether an individual violation is in line with the legal definition of a criminal penalty-worthy act. Additionally the Office of Chief Counsel's security division reviews all reports that are received by regional offices to determine legal sufficiency before assessing penalties. The exercise of this discretion at both the field and regional levels ensures that the exacting, time-consuming civil penalty process is utilized only in those situations that are truly deserving of the effect of a civil penalty.

Rail employees must be aware of the rules and regulations that govern their actions, and not knowingly violate those guidelines to commit a civil penalty-worthy offense. The agency does not consider that a person who acts on a supervisor's directive has committed a willful offense. The agency defines "general railroad system" as the entire network that transports passengers and goods within and between metropolitan areas and cities. The trackage of a plant railroad within a steelmill is not considered to be part of the overall rail transportation system, even though it's physically connected.

Regulation

The Federal Railroad Administration sets train regulations, ranging from those related to safety and movement of hazardous materials. The agency also manages rail financing, including grants and loans for infrastructure and service improvements. The agency works with other DOT agencies and industry to develop strategies to improve the rail system of the United States. This work includes maintaining existing rail infrastructure and services and addressing the need for new capacity and strategically expanding the network, as well as coordinating regional and national systems planning and development.

The agency is primarily responsible for freight transportation, but also oversees passenger transport. The agency is working to provide more options for passenger travel and connect people to the places they would like to go. The agency is focused on enhancing the passenger experience as well as enhancing the safety of the existing fleet, and ensuring that the railway system continues to function efficiently.

Railroads must abide by a variety of federal regulations, relating to the size of the crews on trains. In recent times this issue has been a source of contention. Certain states have passed legislation that requires two-person teams on trains. This final rule codifies the minimum crew size requirements at the federal level, making sure that all railroads are subject to consistent safety standards.

This rule also requires each railroad operating a single-person train crew to inform FRA of the operation and submit an assessment of risk. This will allow FRA to better understand the specific parameters of each operation and compare them to the parameters of a standard two-person crew operation. Additionally, this rule changes the standard of review for an approval petition that is based on determining whether an operation is "consistent with railroad safety" to determining whether the operation is safer or more secure than a two-crewmember operation.

During the time of public comments for this rule, a number of people voted for a requirement of two people on the crew. In a letter to the editor, 29 people expressed their concern that a single crewmember would not be in a position to respond with the speed required to respond to train malfunctions or incidents at grade crossings, or assist emergency response personnel on the highway-rail level crossing. The commenters noted that human factors account for more than half of all railroad accidents and think that a bigger crew will ensure the safety of the train and its cargo.

Technology

Railroads that transport passengers and freight employ numerous technologies to enhance efficiency, increase security, improve safety and more. The language used in the rail industry includes a variety of specific terms and acronyms, but some of the most notable developments include machines-vision systems, instrumented rail inspection systems, driverless trains, rolling data centers, and unmanned aerial vehicles (commonly known as drones).

Technology isn't just about replacing certain jobs. It empowers people to perform their jobs more effectively and safer. Passenger railroads use smartphones apps and contactless fare cards to boost ridership and increase the efficiency of their system. Other developments like autonomous rail cars are moving closer to reality.

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

The Office of Research, Development and Technology of the agency is an essential part of this initiative. The National Academies' recent review of the office concluded that it excelled at engaging, maintaining communications with and using inputs from a variety of stakeholders. But it still needs to focus more on how its research helps the department achieve its primary objective of ensuring the safe movement of goods and people by railway.

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

FRA is likely to be interested in the development of an automated rail taxonomy, a system of standards to clearly and consistently define different levels of automation that could be applicable to both rail and on-road transit vehicles. The agency will need to know the degree of risk the industry perceives with fully automated operation, and whether the industry is contemplating any additional measures to mitigate that risk.

Innovation

Rail companies are adopting technology to increase worker safety, boost efficiency in business processes, and ensure that the cargo they transport reaches its destination intact. Examples of this kind of innovation range from the use of cameras and sensors to monitor freight, to new railcar designs that keep hazardous cargo safe during transit. Some of these technologies even allow railroads to send emergency response personnel to locations of accidents so they can swiftly reduce risks to property and people.

One of the most prominent innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC) that will stop train-to-train collisions, situations where trains are on tracks where they shouldn't be and other accidents resulting from human errors. It is a three-part system consisting of onboard locomotive systems that track the train, wayside networks that communicate with the locomotive, and a massive backend server that analyzes and collects data.

Trains for passengers are also adopting technology to bolster safety and security. Amtrak, for Fela lawyer example, is testing the use of drones to assist security personnel on trains locate passengers and other items in the event of an emergency. The company is also looking into other possibilities to utilize drones, such as using them to perform inspections of bridges as well as other infrastructure, for example, replacing the lighting on railway towers, which could be hazardous for workers to climb.

Other technologies that can be utilized for passenger railroads include smart track technology, which can detect the presence of people or objects on the tracks and send out an alert to drivers when it's unsafe to travel. These technologies are particularly 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.

Another significant technological advance in the railway industry is telematics which allows shippers, railroads and other stakeholders to monitor a traincar's status and condition through real-time tracking. Traincar crews and operators can benefit from greater accountability and visibility which will allow them improve efficiency and avoid unnecessary maintenance. It will also help avoid delays when delivering freight.