The Federal Railroad Administration
The Federal Railroad Administration is among the 10 agencies of the DOT that are responsible for intermodal transportation. Its goal is to facilitate the safe and reliable transportation of goods and people.
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 type of rail transport in the United States that is controlled by the government. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) establishes and enforces safety rules, oversees railroad funding, and researches ways to improve the efficiency of rail transportation systems. The FRA is one of the 10 agencies of 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 freight and passenger transport that is made possible by the railway system of the United States. The agency also consolidates the federal funding for rail transportation and assists in the rehabilitation of the Northeast Corridor passenger service. In fela settlements , the agency oversees the operation and ownership of all intermodal infrastructures such as tracks, right-of-way, equipment and real property as well as rolling stock, and provides the overall coordination of federal rail transportation programs.
The FRA's duties include establishing, through regulation, following the opportunity for notice and comment the procedure by anyone can submit a report to the Secretary of Homeland Security concerning railroad security problems or deficiencies. In addition, the agency creates policies and conducts inspections to determine the compliance of its rail safety regulations in six technical disciplines that include track signals and train control motive power and equipment operating practices, hazmat, and highway-rail grade crossings.
The agency is tasked with the responsibility of making sure the railroad transportation system is safe, economical and environmentally sustainable. As a result, the agency requires railroads to provide a safe working environment and provide the appropriate training to their employees. The agency also determines and enforces the cost of railroad services 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 workers, as well as protects whistleblowers from retaliation from railroad carriers. The agency also has procedures for railroad employees can file complaints regarding the company's actions.
The main goal of the FRA is to ensure safe, reliable and efficient movement of goods and people for a stronger America now and in future. The FRA accomplishes this by controlling rail safety, coordinating programs for assistance to railroads and conducting research to support improving safety in the railroad industry and national transportation policy, coordinating rail networking development and helping the private industry manage railroads. In the past, railroads were huge monopolies, with no competition. The railroad industry was able to abuse its dominance in the market as a result. Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission, as well as other regulatory agencies, to curb the monopolies' exploitation of railroads.
Purpose
Federal railroads are government-owned agencies that set regulations, manage rail funds and conduct research to improve rail transport in the United America. It supervises freight and passenger railroads and operates the nation's rail infrastructure. It is one of 10 agencies in the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also responsible for maintaining and expanding current railway infrastructure.
The primary responsibility of the government in the field of rail transportation is safety. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is in charge of this, and has several divisions that manage the country's passenger and freight railway operations. The largest of them is the Office of Railroad Safety, with around 350 safety inspectors and is responsible for conducting inspections to ensure compliance with the regulations in six technical disciplines: track, signal and train control, motive power and equipment, operating practices, hazmat and highway-rail grade crossings.
FRA has several departments which include the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This oversees the programs that aim to improve passenger and freight rail transportation, including the Northeast Corridor Future. This department is responsible for grants for railways and collaborates with other agencies in order to plan the nation's rail requirements.
Another important function of the FRA is the enforcement of federal laws regarding railroads and their employees. This includes stopping railroads from using their power to discriminate against employees and making sure that all injured railway staff are transported to the nearest hospital for treatment. Railroads are also prohibited from delay or deny medical treatment for injured railway employees.
The FRA is the main regulator for the passenger and freight rail industry, but other organizations manage the economic aspects of rail transportation. The Surface Transportation Board, for instance is responsible for setting rates and governing the economics of the industry. It is also responsible for regulating mergers in the railroad industry lines sales construction and abandonment. After the public consultation period the agency is accountable for establishing regulations that permit anyone to report any suspected rail safety violations.
Functions
Railroads carry people and goods between cities in the developed nations as well as remote villages in less developed countries. They transport raw materials from manufacturing and processing facilities, and finished goods from these facilities to warehouses or stores. Railroads are a vital mode of transportation for many vital commodities, such as coal, oil and grains. In 2020, freight rail transported more than a quarter of country's total freight volume [PDF(PDF).
A federal railroad operates like any other business, with departments for marketing and operations, sales and an executive department. The department of marketing and sales talks with customers and potential clients to determine the services they require and what they need to cost. The operations department then develops the rail services that meet those needs at the lowest 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 helps the railways by a variety of means such as grants and subsidised rates on government-owned traffic. Congress also provides funds to support and build stations and tracks. These subsidies are usually in addition to the revenues railroads receive from 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.
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 safety and health of railroad employees. FRA also collects data on security of rail lines to identify patterns and areas that require improvement or attention from the regulatory side and to track trends.
In addition to these primary duties, FRA works on various other projects aimed at improving the economy and security of rail transportation in the United States. For instance, FRA seeks to eliminate obstacles that could hinder railroads' implementation of positive train control systems (PTC). PTC is a safety system that makes use of sensors and on-board computers to stop the train when it is too close to a vehicle or object.
History
In the 1820s-1830s the first railroads in America were constructed, mostly in New England and Mid-Atlantic. Railroads significantly accelerated industrialization in these areas, and also brought more food to the market. This helped the country become more self-sufficient and less dependent on imports.
In the 19th century's final years the railroad industry experienced an "Golden Age" during which new, more efficient rail lines were built and passenger transportation 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 move to the West and the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads worked together to complete the first transcontinental railroad which enabled travel from New York to San Francisco in six days.
In the first half century, however, the demand for rail passenger services declined, and other modes of transportation like planes and automobiles increased in popularity. Meanwhile, stifling regulation made it difficult for railroads to compete. A string of bankruptcies, service cuts, and deferred maintenance was the next step. In addition, a misguided railroad regulations from the federal government caused the decline of the railroad industry.
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 was also created, which sets rules for safety in rail and is among the 10 agencies in the U.S. Department of Transportation which oversees passenger and freight transportation.
Since then, the infrastructure of the railroads of the United America has seen a great deal of investment. The Northeast Corridor, for example, has been rebuilt to accommodate faster, more modern high-speed ground transportation (HSGT) trains. There are also efforts to create more efficient freight rail. In the future, FRA hopes to continue its collaboration with all transportation agencies in order to ensure safe and reliable railroads. The agency's role is to ensure that the nation's transportation system operates as efficiently as is possible.