The Federal Railroad Administration
The Federal Railroad Administration is one of the DOT's 10 departments concerned with intermodal transportation. Its goal is to facilitate the secure and efficient transportation of people and goods.
FRA field inspectors inspect the railroad track signals, train control and track systems as well as operating procedures. They also investigate complaints.
Definition
Federal railroads are the rail carriers in the United States controlled by the federal government. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, creates and enforces railway regulations, administers railroad funds, and conducts research to improve the efficiency of rail transportation. The FRA is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's intermodal transportation division and its chief executives are the Administrator as well as the Deputy Administrator.
The agency oversees all freight and passenger transportation that uses the nation's railway network. In addition, the agency also supports the rehabilitation of the Northeast Corridor rail passenger service and consolidates support from the federal government for rail transportation activities. In addition, the agency oversees the management and ownership of all intermodal facilities, such as tracks, rights-of-way, equipment, real property and rolling stock, and provides the overall coordination of federal rail transportation programs.
The FRA's responsibilities also include the establishment through regulation and following an opportunity for comment the procedure through which anyone can notify the Secretary Homeland Security any railroad security issues or deficiencies. In addition, the agency sets up policies and conducts inspections to determine compliance with its rail safety regulations in six technical disciplines: track signals and train control, motive power and machinery operating practices, hazmat, and highway-rail grade crossings.
The agency has the responsibility of making sure that the railroad transportation system is operated in a safe, economic and sustainable way. In turn, the agency requires railroads to provide a safe working environment and provide appropriate training for their employees. In addition, the agency sets and enforces railroad rates to ensure that the public gets an equitable price for their transportation services.
In addition the Federal Railroad Administration enacts and enforces regulations to prevent discrimination against railroad employees and also protects whistleblowers from being retaliated against by railroad companies. The agency also establishes a procedure for railroad employees to submit complaints regarding the conduct of their company.
The main goal of the agency is to ensure the safe reliable and efficient movement of people and goods for a strong America, now and in the future. The FRA achieves this by controlling rail safety, coordinating programs to assist railroads conducting research to support improved railroad safety and national transportation policies as well as coordinating the development of rail networks and assisting private companies manage railroads. In the past, railroads were huge monopolies, with no competition. In the end, railroads often misused their position in the marketplace. Therefore, Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission and other regulatory agencies to prevent abuses by railroad monopolies.
Purpose
The federal railroad is a government agency that sets regulations, manages funds for rail and researches ways to improve the nation's rail transport system. It manages the railroad infrastructure of the United States and oversees passenger and freight railroads. It is one of 10 agencies in the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also charged with maintaining and expanding the current railway systems, ensuring ability of the rail industry to meet increasing travel and freight demands and providing leadership in regional and national system planning.
The primary responsibility of the government in the railway industry is safety. The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for this. It has several divisions which oversee the country's freight and passenger railroad operations. The largest of these is the Office of Railroad Safety, which has approximately 350 safety inspectors and is responsible for conducting inspections that determine compliance with regulations in six technical disciplines that include track, signal and train control, motive power and equipment, operating procedures as well as hazmat and highway rail grade crossings.
FRA has additional departments which include the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This department is responsible for programs aimed at improving freight and passenger rail transport, such as the Northeast Corridor Future. This department also is in charge of the grants that help railways, and it works with other agencies to plan for the nation's rail requirements.
Another essential duty of the FRA is the enforcement of certain federal laws pertaining to railroads and their employees. This includes preventing railroads from discriminating against workers, and making sure that injured railway workers receive transportation to the nearest hospital for first aid treatment. Additionally, railroads are prohibited from refusing or delaying medical treatment for injured railway workers.
The FRA is the main regulator for the passenger and freight rail industry, however other agencies manage the economic aspects of rail transportation. The Surface Transportation Board, for example, is in charge of setting rates and governing the economics of the sector. It is the regulatory authority for railroad mergers, line-sales, construction, and abandonment. Other responsibilities include establishing rules following an opportunity for public input, by which anyone may report alleged rail safety violations to the agency.
Functions
Rails transport people and goods from and to cities in developed countries as and villages in countries that are less developed. They transport raw materials to processing and manufacturing plants, and finished products from these facilities to warehouses and stores. Railroads are a vital mode of transportation for many essential commodities, including coal, oil and grains. In 2020, freight railroads transported more than a quarter of the freight volumes in the United America [PDF(PDF).
Federal railroads function like any other business, with departments for marketing and operations, sales and an executive department. The marketing and sales department collaborates with potential and current customers to determine the type of rail services they need and the amount they should cost. The operations department then produces the rail services that meet those needs at the lowest cost to generate revenue for the railroad. fela lawyers supervises the entire operation and ensures that every department is operating efficiently.
The government supports the railways in various ways including grants, to subsidised rates for shipping government traffic. Congress also provides funds to help build new track and stations. These subsidies are usually in addition to the earnings the railroads earn from tickets and freight contracts.
In the United States, the government owns the passenger railway Amtrak. It is a quasi-public for profit corporation with a significant shareholder that is the United States government.
The Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) main function is to develop and enforce safety regulations for railroads. This includes regulating the mechanical conditions of trains as well as the health and safety of railroad employees. FRA also collects data on rail security to determine trends areas that require improvement or attention from the regulatory side and to track trends.
FRA also works on other projects to improve the safety and efficiency of railway transportation in the United States. For example, the agency is working to remove obstacles that could delay railroads' implementation of positive train control systems (PTC). PTC is a safety system that utilizes sensors and computers on board to stop a train in the event that it is too close to another vehicle or object.
History
In the 1820s-1830s the first railroads in America were built, primarily in New England and Mid-Atlantic. Railroads significantly accelerated industrialization in those areas, and also brought more food products to the market. This helped the country to become more independent and less dependent on imports from abroad, which contributed to a stronger economic base.
In the late 19th century the railroad industry experienced the benefits of a "Golden Age" in which new, more efficient raillines were constructed and passenger travel became popular. This was in large part due to the government's efforts to expand the railroad system. The government, for example provided land grants to homesteaders to encourage them to move to the West. Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads also partnered to build the first transcontinental railroad, which allowed passengers to travel from New York City to San Francisco within six days.
In the first half century however, the demand for rail passenger services dwindled, while other modes of transport such as cars and planes gained in popularity. In the meantime, the stifling of regulation made it difficult for railroads to compete. A string of bankruptcies, delays in maintenance and service cuts was the next step. In addition, a misguided federal railway regulations caused the demise of the industry.
Around 1970 the federal government started to ease the regulatory shackles on railroads. The Surface Transportation Board was established to oversee the economic aspects of the industry 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 in the U.S. Department of Transportation that oversees freight and passenger transportation.
Since then, the railway infrastructure of the United America has seen a great deal of investment. The Northeast Corridor has been rebuilt for instance, to accommodate more efficient and modern high-speed ground transportation (HSGT). There are also efforts to develop more efficient freight rail. FRA hopes to continue to work with all transportation agencies to ensure the safety and reliability of rails in the future. The agency's role is to ensure that the nation's transportation system runs as efficiently as possible.