What's Holding Back The Federal Railroad Industry? The Federal Railroad Administration

The Federal Railroad Administration is one of the DOT's 10 departments involved in intermodal transportation. Its goal is to facilitate the safe and efficient transportation of people and goods.

FRA field inspectors regularly check railroad track, signal and train control systems as well as operating practices. They also investigate complaints.

Definition

Federal railroads are the rail carriers in the United States controlled by the federal government. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) creates and enforces railway safety regulations, manages funds for railroads, and investigates ways to improve the efficiency of rail transportation systems. The FRA is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's intermodal transportation division, and its top officers are the Administrator and the Deputy Administrator.

The agency oversees all passenger and freight transportation that is conducted through the nation's rail network. The agency also coordinates the federal funding for rail transportation and assists in the rehabilitation of the Northeast Corridor passenger service. The agency also regulates the ownership and operation of intermodal facilities including tracks, right of way, equipment, real estate, and rolling stock. It also oversees federal rail transportation programs.

FRA's duties also include establishing through regulation and following an opportunity for comment, a procedure by which anyone can notify the Secretary Homeland Security any railroad security problems or issues. The agency also formulates policies, conducts inspections, and evaluates compliance with its rail laws in six technical disciplines, including track signal, track, and train control; motive power and equipment; operating practices; hazmat and highway-rail grade intersections.

The agency is tasked with the responsibility to make sure the railroad transportation system is secure, economical and environmentally sustainable. In turn, the agency requires railroads to maintain an environment that is safe for workers and provide the appropriate training to their employees. Furthermore, the agency sets and regulates railroad rates to ensure that the public is receiving an equitable price for their transportation services.

In addition, the Federal Railroad Administration enacts and enforces rules to stop discrimination against railroad employees, as well as protects whistleblowers from retaliation by railroad carriers. The agency also has a procedure for railroad employees to submit complaints about the company's conduct.

The main goal of the FRA is to ensure safe, reliable and efficient transportation of people and goods for a stronger America today and in the future. The FRA accomplishes this by regulating railroad safety, managing railroad assistance programs conducting research to help the improvement of safety for railroads and national rail transportation policy and coordination, as well as supporting the development of a rail network as well as helping the private sector manage railroads. In the past, railroads were huge monopolies, with no competition. The railroad industry was able to abuse its dominant position in the market as a result. Congress established the Interstate Commerce Commission, as and other regulatory agencies, to curb the monopolies' exploitation of railroads.

Purpose

The federal railroad is a government agency that establishes regulations, manages funds for rail and studies ways to improve the nation's rail transport system. It oversees both freight and passenger railroads, and also manages the nation's railway infrastructure. It is one of the 10 agencies of the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also responsible for maintaining and expanding current railway systems.

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 responsible for overseeing the country's freight and passenger rail operations. The most important of these is the Office of Railroad Safety, which is home to around 350 safety inspectors and is responsible for conducting inspections to determine compliance with regulations in six technical disciplines that include track signal and train control, motive power and equipment, operating procedures as well as hazmat and highway rail grade crossings.

FRA has several departments, including the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This department is responsible for programs aimed to improve passenger and freight railway transport, including the Northeast Corridor Future. The department is also responsible for grants that help railways, and it collaborates with other agencies to plan for the nation's rail requirements.

Another important function of the FRA is the enforcement of certain federal laws that pertain to railroads and their employees. This includes stopping railroads from discriminating against employees, and making sure that all injured railway employees are transported to the nearest hospital for initial aid treatment. The law also prohibits railroads from refusing or delaying medical treatment for injured railway employees.

The FRA is the primary regulator of the passenger and freight railway industries, but there are other agencies that manage the economic aspects of rail transport. The Surface Transportation Board, for instance, is in charge of setting rates and managing the financial aspects of the industry. It has regulatory authority over mergers in the railroad industry, line sales construction and abandonment. Other responsibilities include establishing a process through regulations, after opportunity for public input and participation, where anyone can submit complaints about rail safety violations to the agency.

Functions

Railroads carry people and goods between cities in developed nations, as well as remote villages in countries that are less developed. They transport raw materials from processing and manufacturing facilities, and final products from these facilities to stores or warehouses. Rail is a crucial mode of transportation for a variety of essential commodities including grains, oil, and coal. In 2020, freight rail transported more than a quarter of the nation's total freight volumes [PDF(PDF).

Federal railroads function just like any other company, with departments for marketing and operations, sales, and an executive department. The department of marketing and sales works with potential and current customers to determine the type of rail services they require and what those services should cost. The operations department then develops rail services that meet these needs at the lowest cost possible to generate revenue for railroads. The executive department is responsible for the entire operation, ensuring that every department is operating efficiently.

The government offers support to railways in various ways, from grants to subsidized rates for government-owned transport. Congress also provides funds to help build and maintain new tracks and stations. These subsidies are often in addition to the earnings the railroads earn from tickets and freight contracts.

In the United States, the government has the passenger railway Amtrak. It is a quasi-public, for-profit company with a huge shareholder that is the United States government.

The Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) main function is to develop and enforce safety regulations for railroads. This involves regulating the mechanical condition of trains, as well as the health and safety of railroad employees. fela lawsuits collects data on security of rail lines to determine trends, areas that need improvement or attention from the regulatory side and to track trends.


In addition to these fundamental tasks, FRA works on various other projects related to improving the security and economy of railroad transportation in the United States. For instance, FRA aims to reduce barriers that might hinder railroads' introduction of positive train control systems (PTC). PTC is a safety system that uses sensors and computers on board to automatically stop the train when it is too close to another vehicle or object.

History

The nation's first railroads were constructed in the 1820s and 1830s, largely in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. The railroads accelerated industrialization and brought more food items to markets in these regions. This allowed the country to become more self-sufficient and less dependent upon imports from abroad, which in turn resulted in a solid economic base.

In the latter part of the nineteenth century the railroad industry was experiencing a "Golden Age," during which many new trains that were more efficient were constructed and passenger travel via train became increasingly popular. The government's efforts in expanding the railroad system were a major factor. For instance, the government granted land grants to homesteaders 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, demand for railroad passenger services slowed and other modes of transportation such as airplanes and cars gained popularity, while regulations hindered railroads in their ability to compete economically. A string of bankruptcies, delays in maintenance and service cuts followed. In addition, misguided railroad regulations from the federal government led to the demise of the industry.

Around the year 1970 the federal government started to ease the regulatory burdens on railroads. Surface Transportation Board was created to oversee economic matters such as railroad rates and mergers. The Federal Railroad Administration was also created, which sets rail safety regulations and is one of the 10 agencies in the U.S. Department of Transportation that oversees freight and passenger transportation.

Since then, the railroad infrastructure of the United States has seen a significant amount of investment. The Northeast Corridor, for example has been renovated to accommodate faster, more modern high speed ground transportation (HSGT) trains. There have also been efforts to create more efficient freight rail systems. FRA hopes to continue working with all transportation agencies to ensure safe and reliable rails in the near future. FRA's mission is to ensure that the nation's transport system runs as efficiently as it can.