The Federal Railroad Administration
The Federal Railroad Administration is one of the DOT's 10 agencies involved in intermodal transportation. Its mission is enabling the safe and reliable transportation of both 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
Federal railroads are rail carriers in the United States controlled by the federal government. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is responsible for the creation and enforcement of railway safety regulations, manages funds for railroads, and investigates ways to improve rail transportation systems. 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 is made possible by the railway network of the United States. In addition the agency is also involved in the rehabilitation of Northeast Corridor rail passenger service and consolidates government support for rail transportation. Additionally, the agency oversees the management and ownership of all intermodal facilities such as tracks, right-of-way, equipment real property, and rolling stock. It also handles the overall coordination of federal rail transportation programs.
The FRA's responsibilities are to establish through regulation, after notification and comment an avenue through anyone can report to the Secretary of Homeland Security concerning railroad security problems or deficiencies. The agency also develops policies, conducts inspections and reviews the compliance with its railroad laws in six technical disciplines, including track signal, track, and train control; motive power and equipment; operating procedures; hazmat and highway-rail grade intersections.
The agency has the responsibility to make sure the railway transportation system is secure, economical and sustainable. fela claims railroad employees requires railroads maintain a safe work environment and provide adequate training for their employees. The agency also sets and enforces railroad prices to ensure that the public is billed fair prices for transportation services.
Additionally to that, the Federal Railroad Administration enacts and enforces regulations to prevent discrimination against railroad employees, and protect whistleblowers from retaliation from railroad companies. The agency also sets up a complaint procedure for railroad employees to file complaints about the conduct of the company.
The main goal of the agency is to ensure the secure, reliable, and efficient movement of people and goods to build a stronger America, now and in the future. The FRA achieves this by overseeing the regulation of rail safety, managing programs for assistance to railroads and conducting research in support of improved railroad safety and national transportation policies as well as coordinating the development of rail networks and assisting the private sector manage railroads. In the past, railroads dominated the market with little competition. The railroad industry took advantage of its dominant position in the market as a result. Hence, Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission and other regulatory agencies to prevent abuses by railroad monopolies.
Purpose
Federal railroads are government agencies that establish rules, regulate funds for rail and conduct research to improve rail transport in the United America. It is responsible for both freight and passenger railroads and also manages the nation's railway infrastructure. It is one of ten agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also charged with maintaining and expanding current rail systems, as well as ensuring the ability of the rail industry to meet the growing travel and freight demands and providing leadership in national and regional system planning.
Safety is the government's main responsibility in the field of rail transportation. The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for this. It has a variety of divisions that oversee the country's freight and passenger rail operations. The largest of these is the Office of Railroad Safety, with about 350 safety inspectors. It is responsible for conducting inspections that determine compliance with the regulations in six technical disciplines including 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. It is responsible for the programs that are meant to improve freight and passenger railway transportation, including the Northeast Corridor Future. This department is responsible for grants given to railways, and collaborates with other agencies in order to plan the nation's rail requirements.
The FRA also has a duty to enforce federal laws related to railroads and their workers. This includes preventing railroads from discriminating against workers and ensuring that all railway employees injured receive transportation to the nearest hospital for first aid treatment. It also prohibits railroads to delay or deny medical treatment for injured railway workers.
The FRA is the main regulator of the passenger and freight rail industries, but there are other organizations that manage the economic aspects of rail transportation. Surface Transportation Board is responsible for determining rates and governing economics in the sector. It has regulatory authority over railroad mergers, line sales, construction and abandonment. Other responsibilities include establishing regulations following an opportunity for public input and participation, where anyone can complain about alleged safety violations to the agency.
Functions
Rails transport goods and people from and to cities in developed countries as well as villages in less developed countries. They transport raw materials from processing and manufacturing facilities, and then finished goods from these facilities to stores or warehouses. Railroads are a critical form of transportation for a variety of essential commodities, including coal, oil, and grains. In 2020, freight railroads carried more than a quarter of all freight in the United States [PDF(PDF).
The federal railroad is run like any other business. It has departments for marketing and operations, sales, and an executive department. The department of marketing and sales collaborates with potential and current customers to determine the kind of rail services they require and the amount they should cost. The operations department then creates the rail services that meet these requirements at the cheapest cost to earn money for the railroad. The executive department supervises the entire operation and makes sure that each department is operating efficiently.
The government provides support to railways in various ways including grants, to subsidised rates for government-owned transport. Congress also provides funds to build stations and tracks. These subsidies are often in addition to the revenue railroads receive from ticket sales and freight contracts.
In the United States, the government has the passenger railway Amtrak. It is a quasi-public, for-profit corporation with a significant stockholder, which is the United States government.
The Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) principal purpose is to create 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 need improvement or attention from the regulatory side and to identify trends.
FRA also has other projects to improve the economy and safety of railway transportation in the United States. For instance, the agency is working to remove obstacles that might hinder railroads' implementation of positive train control systems (PTC). PTC is an emergency safety system that utilizes sensors and on-board computers to stop the train when it gets too close to another vehicle or other object.
History
The first railroads in the United States were built in the 1820s and 1830s mostly in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. Railroads significantly accelerated industrialization in these regions, and also brought more food items to the market. This helped the country to become more self-sufficient and less dependent upon imports from abroad, which helped to foster a strong economic base.
In the 19th century's final years the railroad industry enjoyed the benefits of a "Golden Age" that saw new, more efficient raillines were built and passenger transportation became popular. This was in large part due to the government's efforts to expand the railroad system. For instance, the government gave homesteaders land grants to encourage them to settle in the West, and the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads worked together to complete the first transcontinental railroad, which allowed travel from New York to San Francisco in six days.
In the first half century, however, the demand for passenger rail services dwindled, while other modes of transportation like planes and cars increased in popularity. In the meantime, the stifling of regulation made it difficult for railroads to compete. A series of bankruptcies and delays in maintenance and service cuts followed. The misguided federal rail regulations contributed to the decline.
Around the year 1970 the federal government started to loosen 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 standards for rail safety was also established.
Since then, a large amount of money has been made in the country's railroad infrastructure. The Northeast Corridor, for example, has been rebuilt to accommodate faster, more modern high speed ground transportation (HSGT) trains. The effort has also been made to improve the efficiency of freight rail systems. FRA hopes to continue working with all transportation agencies to ensure safe and reliable rails in the future. The agency's role is to ensure that the nation's transportation system runs as efficiently as possible.