The Federal Railroad Administration
The Federal Railroad Administration is among the 10 agencies of DOT that are responsible for intermodal transportation. Its goal is to facilitate the safe and reliable movement of goods and people.
FRA field inspectors regularly check railroad track, signal and train control systems as well as operating procedures. They also investigate complaints.
Definition
Federal railroads are rail transporters in the United States controlled by the federal government. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) creates and enforces railway safety regulations, manages railway funding, and studies ways to improve rail transportation systems. The FRA is one of 10 agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation which is responsible for intermodal transportation. Its chief executive officers are the Administrator and Deputy Administrator.
The agency is responsible for all passenger and freight transport that uses the rail network of the United States. Additionally, the agency also supports the rehabilitation of the Northeast Corridor rail passenger service and consolidates the government's support for rail transportation activities. The agency also regulates the ownership and operation of intermodal facilities, like tracks, rights of way equipment, real estate and rolling stock. It also coordinates federal rail transportation programs.
FRA's duties also include establishing, through regulation and after an opportunity for comments an procedure that anyone can report to the Secretary Homeland Security any railroad security issues or issues. The agency also formulates guidelines, conducts inspections and evaluates compliance with its railroad laws in six technical disciplines, including track, signal, and train control as well as motive power and equipment; operating procedures hazardous materials and highway-rail grade intersections.
The agency is responsible of ensuring that the railway transportation system is operated 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 charged fair prices for transportation services.
Additionally, the Federal Railroad Administration enacts and enforces rules to prevent discrimination against railroad employees and also protects whistleblowers from retaliation by railroad companies. The agency also has a complaint procedure for railroad employees to file complaints regarding the conduct of their company.
fela claims of the agency is to enable the safe efficient, reliable, and secure transportation of goods and people to ensure a secure America today and into the future. The FRA accomplishes this through overseeing the regulation of rail safety, managing programs for assistance to railroads 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 were huge monopolies, with no competition. This meant that the industry often abused its position in the marketplace. Hence, Congress established the Interstate Commerce Commission and other regulatory agencies to curb the abuses committed by railroad monopolies.
Purpose
Federal railroads are federal agencies that set regulations, manage rail funds and conduct research to improve rail transport in the United States. It supervises freight and passenger railroads and manages the nation's rail infrastructure. It is one of the 10 agencies in the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also tasked with maintaining and expanding current railway systems, ensuring capability of the railroad industry to meet the growing demand for freight and travel as well as providing leadership in regional and national system planning.
Safety is the government's main responsibility in rail transportation. The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for this. It has several divisions which oversee the country's freight and passenger rail operations. The Office of Railroad Safety is the largest with approximately 350 inspectors. It is responsible for conducting safety inspections across six technical disciplines, including track, signalling, train control as well as motive and equipment, operating procedures, hazmat and highway-rail grade crossings.
FRA has several departments that include the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This department is responsible for programs aimed at enhancing passenger and freight rail transportation, like the Northeast Corridor Future. This department is responsible for granting grants for railways and collaborates with other agencies in order to determine the nation's rail requirements.
Another important duty of the FRA is the enforcement of certain federal laws pertaining to railroads and their employees. This includes stopping railroads from using their power to discriminate against workers and making sure that all injured railway staff are taken to the nearest hospital to receive treatment. The law also prohibits railroads from refusing or delaying medical treatment to injured railway employees.
The FRA is the main regulator of the freight and passenger rail industries, however there are other organizations that manage the economic aspects of rail transportation. Surface Transportation Board is responsible for setting rates and managing economics in the industry. It is the regulatory authority for railroad mergers, line-sales construction, and abandonment. Other responsibilities include establishing regulations following an opportunity for public input that allows anyone to submit complaints about rail safety violations to the agency.
Functions
Railroads carry people and goods between cities in developed nations as and remote villages in less developed countries. They transport raw materials to manufacturing and processing plants, and finished products from these factories to warehouses and stores. Railroads are a critical form of transportation for a variety of essential commodities, including coal, oil and grains. In 2020, freight rail carried more than a quarter of the nation's total freight volumes [PDFThe PDF file contains.
The federal railroad is managed as a business. It has departments for marketing, operations, sale, and an executive department. The marketing and sales department works with potential and current customers to determine what kind of rail services they require and the amount they should cost. The operations department then creates rail services that meet these needs at the cheapest cost to make money for railroads. The executive department oversees the entire operation and makes sure that every department is operating efficiently.
The government supports the railways in a variety of ways including grants, to subsidised rates for shipping government traffic. Congress also provides funds to build new tracks and stations. These subsidy funds are often added to the revenue that railroads receive through tickets and freight contracts.
Amtrak is owned by the United States government. It is a quasi-public for profit corporation with a significant stockholder that is the United States government.
A key function of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is establishing and enforcing safety regulations for railroads. This involves regulating the mechanical condition of trains, as well as the safety and health of railroad employees. FRA also collects and analyzes information on rail safety to identify patterns and areas that might require improvement or more regulatory attention.
FRA also has other projects that improve the safety and economy of rail transportation in the United States. The agency, for example is working to eliminate barriers that could delay railroads in the implementation of positive train control (PTC). PTC is a safety system that utilizes sensors and computers to stop a train in the event that it is too close to an vehicle or object.
History
The nation's first railroads were built in the 1820s and 1830s, largely in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. The railroads accelerated industrialization and brought more food products to market in these areas. This helped the country to become more self-sufficient and less dependent upon imports from abroad, which in turn helped to foster a strong economic base.
In the latter part of the 19th century, the railroad industry enjoyed a "Golden Age" during which new, more efficient rail lines were built and passenger travel became popular. The government's efforts to expand the railroad system were a major aspect. The government, for instance, gave land grants to homesteaders in order to encourage them to settle in 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.
However, in the first half of the 20th century, the demand for passenger railroad services decreased and other modes of transport like cars and airplanes gained popularity, while stifling regulations hampered railroads competitiveness economically. The industry was plagued by a succession of bankruptcies, service cuts, and deferred maintenance. Additionally, a misguided railroad regulations from the federal government caused the decline of the railroad industry.
Around 1970, federal government began loosening the restrictions on railroads' regulatory requirements. Surface Transportation Board was created to oversee economic aspects such as railroad rates and mergers. The Federal Railroad Administration was also established to set standards for rail safety and is among the 10 agencies in the U.S. Department of Transportation which oversees passenger and freight transportation.
Since then, a great amount of investment has been made in the nation's railway infrastructure. The Northeast Corridor has been rebuilt for instance, in order to allow for faster and more modern high-speed ground transportation (HSGT). There have also been efforts to improve the efficiency of freight rail systems. FRA hopes to continue to work with all transportation agencies to ensure safe and reliable rails in the future. FRA's mission is to ensure that the nation's transportation system operates as efficiently as possible.