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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. fela claims use discretion to decide on which cases are worthy of the precise and lengthy civil penalty process. This helps ensure that the most serious violations are punished. Allies and members of SMART-TD have made history in 2024 by pushing the FRA to allow two people 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 employees and the public. It is responsible for creating and enforcing rail safety regulations. It also administers rail funding and conducts research on improvements to rail strategies and technologies. It also formulates and implements a strategy to ensure the current rail services, infrastructure and capacity and strategically expands and improves the national rail network. The department requires all rail employers to adhere to the strictest rules and regulations, and empower their employees and provide them with tools to be successful and secure. This includes taking part in the confidential close call reporting system, setting up labor-management occupational health and safety committees that have full union participation, as well as anti-retaliation protections and providing employees with the necessary personal protection equipment. FRA inspectors are on the front lines of enforcement of railway safety laws and regulations. They conduct routine inspections on equipment and investigate hundreds of complaints. Anyone who violates the safety rules for rail can be subject to civil penalties. The safety inspectors of the agency are able to decide on the extent to which a particular violation meets the statutory description of a crime that is punishable by civil penalties. The Office of Chief Counsel's safety division also reviews the reports submitted by regional offices to ensure that they are legal prior to imposing penalties. The exercise of this discretion at both the regional and field levels helps ensure that the lengthy, time-consuming civil penalty process is used only in situations which truly warrant the deterrent effect of a civil penalty. A rail employee must be aware of rules and regulations that govern their actions and knowingly disregard those standards to commit a criminal offense that is punishable by a civil penalty. However, the agency does not take any person who follows a directive by a supervisor as having committed an intentional violation. The agency defines the “general railroad system of transportation” as the entire network that allows passengers and goods to travel within cities and metropolitan areas and 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 is physically connected. Regulation The Federal Railroad Administration sets train regulations, including those pertaining to safety and movement of hazardous materials. The agency also manages rail financing which includes loans and grants for improvements to infrastructure and service. The agency works with other DOT agencies and industry to devise strategies to improve the nation's railway system. This includes ensuring the current rail infrastructure and services, addressing the needs for new capacity and expanding the network strategically as well as coordinating the national and regional system development and planning. Although the majority of the agency's work focuses on freight transportation, it also handles passenger transportation. The agency is working to provide more options for passenger travel and connect passengers with the places they'd like to travel to. The agency is focused on improving the passenger experience, improving the safety of the current fleet, and ensuring that the rail network continues to operate efficiently. Railroads are required to abide with a variety of federal regulations, which include those relating to the size and composition of train crews. This issue has become an issue of contention in recent years, with a few states passing legislation that requires two-person crews on trains. This final rule outlines the minimum size of crew requirements at the federal level, making sure 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 allow FRA to better identify the specific parameters of each operation and compare them to those of a normal two-person crew operation. Additionally this rule will change the standard of review for the special approval petition from to determining whether an operation is “consistent with railroad safety” to determining if approving the operation is safer or more secure than a two-crewmember operation. During the period of public comment for this rule, a large number of people voted for a requirement of a two person crew. In a letter to the editor 29 people expressed their concern that a single member of the crew would not be in a position to respond with the speed required to respond to incidents or train malfunctions at grade crossings, or assist emergency response personnel on a highway-rail level crossing. The commenters noted that human factors account for more than half all railroad accidents and think that a bigger crew will ensure the safety of the train and its cargo. Technology Freight and passenger rails employ a variety of technologies to increase efficiency, increase safety, and boost security. The rail industry vernacular includes many distinct terms and acronyms however, some of the most notable developments include machine vision systems, instrumented rail inspection systems, driverless trains, rolling data centers, and drones that are not piloted (commonly known as drones). Technology isn't only able to replace certain jobs. It empowers people to perform their jobs better and more safely. Passenger railroads are using smartphone apps and contactless fare payment cards to increase ridership and make the system more efficient. Other innovations like autonomous rail cars are coming closer to reality. The Federal Railroad Administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to ensure safe affordable, reliable, and secure transportation in the United States, is focused on modernizing the railway infrastructure. This is a multi-billion dollar project that will see tunnels and bridges repaired, tracks and power systems upgraded, and stations rebuilt or upgraded. The FRA's rail improvement program will be substantially extended by the recently passed bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a key element in this initiative. Recent National Academies review of the office found it excelled at engaging in a continuous dialogue and utilizing the inputs from a variety of stakeholders. However, it needs to concentrate on how its research helps the department achieve its primary objective of ensuring the safe movement of people and goods via railway. One area where 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, the freight rail industry's primary association that focuses on policy, research and standardization and has created a Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to help in developing industry standards for the implementation of the technology. FRA is likely to be interested in the creation of an automated rail taxonomy, which is a system of standards to clearly and consistently define different levels of automation that would be applicable to both on-road and rail transit vehicles. The agency will also be looking to understand the level of safety risk that the industry believes is associated with the introduction of fully automated operation and whether or not the industry is considering additional protections to minimize the risk. Innovation Railroads are embracing technology to improve worker safety and improve business processes. efficient and help ensure that the cargo it transports arrives at its destination intact. Examples of this technological advancement vary from the use cameras and sensors to track freight, to the latest railcar designs that keep hazardous cargo safe during transit. Some of these technologies allow railroads dispatch emergency personnel directly to accident sites to reduce the risk and minimize damages to property and individuals. One of the most prominent innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC) which will prevent train-to-train collisions, situations where trains are on tracks that shouldn't be, as well as other accidents that result from human mistakes. This system consists of three parts of onboard locomotive systems that track the train; wayside networks which communicate with the locomotive and a huge server that analyzes and collects data. Trains for passengers also adopt technology to enhance safety and security. Amtrak for instance, is testing the use of drones in order to help security personnel on trains find passengers and other items in an emergency. Amtrak is also investigating other possibilities to utilize drones, including deploying drones to inspect bridges and other infrastructure for example, replacing the lighting on railway towers, which can be dangerous for workers to climb. Other technologies that can be utilized for railways for passengers include smart track technology that can detect the presence of people or objects on the tracks and issue an alert to drivers when it's unsafe to travel. These technologies are particularly effective in detecting unsafe crossings or other issues in the evenings when traffic is less and there are less witnesses to an accident. Another important technological advancement in the railway industry is telematics which enables railroads, shippers and other stakeholders to see the status and condition of a traincar via real-time tracking. Railcar operators and crews can benefit from increased accountability and visibility, which will help them improve efficiency as well as avoid unnecessary maintenance and delay in the delivery of freight.