The Federal Railroad Administration

The Federal Railroad Administration is among the 10 agencies of DOT that are responsible for intermodal transportation. Its mission is enabling the safe and reliable transportation of people and goods.

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

Definition

A federal railroad is a rail carrier in the United States that is controlled by the government. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), which is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, develops and enforces regulations governing railways and regulates funds for 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 as well as the Deputy Administrator.

The agency is responsible for all passenger and freight transport that uses the railway network of the United States. In addition the agency supports the rehabilitation of Northeast Corridor rail passenger service and consolidates support from the federal government for rail transportation activities. The agency also regulates the ownership and operation of intermodal facilities such as tracks, right of way, equipment, real estate, and rolling stock. It also manages federal rail transportation programs.

FRA's responsibilities also include establishing through regulation and following an opportunity to comment the procedure through which anyone can report to the Secretary Homeland Security any railroad security issues or deficiencies. The agency also develops policies, conducts inspections, and reviews the compliance with its rail laws in six technical disciplines, which include track signal, track, and train control locomotive power and equipment; operating procedures; hazmat and highway-rail grade intersections.

The agency is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the railway transportation system is safe, economical and sustainable. This is why the agency requires railroads to maintain an environment that is safe for workers and provide appropriate training for their employees. Additionally, the agency establishes and regulates railroad rates to ensure that the public gets a fair rate for their transportation services.

Additionally to that, the Federal Railroad Administration enacts and enforces regulations to prevent discrimination against railroad employees as well as protects whistleblowers from being retaliated against by railroad companies. The agency also has procedures for railroad employees can file complaints about the actions of the company.

The primary goal of the agency is to ensure the secure, reliable and efficient movement of goods and people for a stronger America both now and in the future. The FRA achieves this by overseeing the regulation of rail safety, managing railroad assistance programmes, conducting research in support of improved railroad safety and national transportation policies and coordinating the development of rail networks and assisting private companies manage railroads. In the past, railroads controlled the market with little competition. As a result, the industry frequently abused its position in the marketplace. Congress established the Interstate Commerce Commission, as and other regulatory agencies, to curb the monopolies' exploitation of railroads.

Purpose

Federal railroads are government agencies that establish rules, regulate rail funds and conduct research to improve rail transport in the United America. It manages the rail infrastructure of the United States and supervises passenger and freight railroads. It is one of ten agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also responsible for maintaining and expanding the current railroad systems.

The government's primary responsibility in the railway industry is safety. The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for this. It has a variety of divisions that oversee the country's passenger and freight rail operations. The Office of Railroad Safety is the largest of these with a staff of around 350. It is responsible for conducting safety inspections in six different technical disciplines, including track, signalling, and train control, motive and equipment operating procedures, hazmat, and highway-rail grade crossings.

FRA has various departments, including the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This department oversees programs aimed to improve passenger and freight rail transport, such as the Northeast Corridor Future. This department is responsible for the grants for railways and collaborates with other agencies in order to plan the nation's railway requirements.

The FRA also has a duty to enforce federal laws pertaining to railroads and their employees. This includes stopping railroads from using their power to discriminate against employees and ensuring that railway workers injured are transported to the nearest hospital for Accidentinjurylawyers treatment. The law also prohibits railroads from deny or delay medical treatment for injured railway workers.

The FRA is the main regulator of the freight and passenger railway industries, but there are other organizations which manage the economic aspects of rail transport. The Surface Transportation Board, for example, is in charge of setting rates and governing the economics of the industry. It is the regulatory authority for railroad mergers, line-sales, accidentinjurylawyers construction, and abandonment. After the public consultation period the agency is accountable for establishing regulations that allow anyone to report any alleged safety issues with rail.

Functions

Railroads carry people and goods to and from cities in developed nations as well as remote villages in less developed countries. They transport raw materials to manufacturing and processing factories, and then the final products from these facilities to warehouses and stores. Railroads are a critical form of transportation for a variety of essential commodities, including oil, coal and grains. In 2020, freight railroads transported more than a quarter of all freight volumes in the United America [PDF].

The federal railroad is run as a business. It has departments for marketing, operations, sales, and an executive department. The department for marketing and sales works with potential and current customers to determine the kind of rail services they require and what those services should cost. The operations department then produces the rail services that meet these requirements at the lowest possible cost to generate revenue for the railroad. The executive department supervises the entire operation, making sure every department is operating efficiently.

The government supports the railways through a variety of means such as grants and subsidised rates on government traffic. Congress also offers funds to help build new track and stations. These subsidy funds are often added to the revenues that railroads receive through ticket sales and freight contracts.

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

A major role of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is developing and enforcing safety regulations for railroads. This involves regulating the mechanical condition of trains as well as the health and safety of railroad employees. FRA also collects data about rail security to determine trends and areas that require improvement or attention from regulators and to identify trends.

FRA also works on other projects to improve the safety and economy of railway transportation in the United States. The agency, for example seeks to lower the obstacles that hinder railroads in adopting positive train control (PTC). PTC is an emergency safety system that utilizes sensors and on-board computers to stop the train when it is too close to another vehicle or object.

History

In the 1820s and 1830s, the first railroads in America were built, mostly in New England and Mid-Atlantic. Railroads helped speed up industrialization and brought more food to market in these areas. This allowed the country to become more self-sufficient and less dependent upon foreign imports, which contributed to a stronger economic base.

In the late nineteenth century, the railroad industry experienced a "Golden Age," during which many new, more efficient rail lines were constructed and passenger travel on train became popular. This was largely because of the government's efforts to expand the railroad system. For instance, the government provided land grants to homesteaders to encourage them to settle the West. Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads also partnered to construct the first transcontinental railroad which allowed passengers to travel from New York City to San Francisco in just six days.

In the first half century, however the demand for passenger rail services decreased, and other modes of transportation like planes and cars became more popular. In the meantime, the stifling of regulation made it difficult for railroads to compete. The industry was plagued by a string of bankruptcies as well as service cuts and deferred maintenance. Misguided federal rail regulations also contributed to the decline.

Around the year 1970 the federal government started to ease the regulatory burdens on railroads. The Surface Transportation Board was established to oversee economic aspects of the industry such as mergers and rates for railroads. The Federal Railroad Administration, which regulates freight and passenger transport and sets rail safety standards was also established.

Since then, a great amount of investment has been made in the nation's railroad infrastructure. The Northeast Corridor has been rebuilt, for instance, to accommodate faster and more modern high-speed ground transportation (HSGT). There are also efforts to develop more efficient systems for freight rail. In the future, FRA hopes to continue its partnership with all transportation agencies in order to ensure reliable and safe railroads. The role of FRA is to ensure that the nation's transport system operates as efficiently as possible.