The Federal Railroad Administration
The Federal Railroad Administration is one of the DOT's 10 departments concerned with intermodal transportation. Its goal is to facilitate the safe and reliable movement of people and goods.
FRA field inspectors routinely inspect railroad track, signal and train control systems as and operating practices. 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, administers 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 top executives are the Administrator and the Deputy Administrator.
The agency is responsible for all freight and passenger transport that uses the rail network of the United States. In addition the agency is also involved in the rehabilitation of Northeast Corridor rail passenger service and consolidates the government's support for rail transportation activities. The agency also regulates ownership and operation of intermodal facilities including tracks, right of way, equipment, real estate and rolling stock. It also coordinates federal rail transportation programs.
The FRA's responsibilities are to establish through regulation, after opportunity for notice and comment the procedure by anyone can report to the Secretary of Homeland Security concerning railroad security issues or deficiencies. The agency also develops guidelines, conducts inspections and assesses the compliance with its rail laws in six different technical disciplines, which include track, signal, and train control as well as motive power and equipment; operating procedures as well as hazmat and highway-rail grade intersections.
The agency has the responsibility to make sure the railway transportation system is safe, economical, and environmentally friendly. The agency also requires railroads to provide a safe working environment and provide adequate training for their employees. The agency also sets and enforces railroad prices to ensure that the public is charged fairly for transportation services.
Additionally the Federal Railroad Administration enacts and enforces rules to stop discrimination against railroad workers, as well as protects whistleblowers from being retaliated against by railroad companies. The agency also establishes procedures for railroad employees can make complaints against the company's actions.
The agency's main mission is to ensure the safe, reliable and effective movement of goods and people to ensure a secure America now and in future. The FRA accomplishes this through overseeing the regulation of rail safety, managing railroad assistance programmes conducting research in support of improving safety in the railroad industry and national transportation policies, coordinating rail networking development and assisting the private sector manage railroads. In the past, railroads were essentially monopolies that had no competition. As a result, railroads often misused their position in the marketplace. Hence, Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission and other regulatory agencies to limit abuses by railroad monopolies.
Purpose
The federal railroad is a federal agency that establishes regulations, manages rail funds and researches ways to improve the nation's rail transport system. It manages the railway infrastructure of the United States and manages passenger and freight railroads. It is one of 10 agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also responsible for maintaining and expanding the current railway infrastructure.
Safety is the government's main responsibility in rail transportation. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is in charge of this, and has several divisions responsible for overseeing the country's freight and passenger railway operations. The Office of Railroad Safety is the largest of them, with around 350 inspectors. It is responsible for conducting safety inspections in six different technical disciplines, including track signalling, and train control, motive and equipment, operating procedures, hazmat, and highway-rail grade crosses.
FRA has several departments, such as the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. It is responsible for the programs that aim to improve freight and passenger railway transportation, including the Northeast Corridor Future. This department is responsible for granting grants given to railways, and collaborates with other agencies in order to plan the nation's railway requirements.
fela lawyers has a duty to enforce federal laws pertaining to railroads and their workers. This includes stopping railroads from discriminating against workers and ensuring that all railway employees injured are transported to the nearest hospital for first aid treatment. Railroads are also prohibited from deny or delay medical treatment for injured railway employees.
The FRA is the main regulator of the freight and passenger railway industries, but there are other organizations that manage the economic aspects of rail transportation. Surface Transportation Board is responsible for determining rates and governing the economics of the industry. It has regulatory authority over railroad mergers, line sales construction, and abandonment. Other responsibilities include the establishment of regulations following an opportunity for public input that allows anyone to report alleged rail safety violations to the agency.
Functions
Rails transport people and goods from and to cities in the developed world as also to villages in countries that are less developed. They transport raw materials to processing and manufacturing plants, and finished products from those facilities to stores and warehouses. Rail is a vital form of transportation for a number of essential commodities like oil, grains, and coal. In 2020, freight rail transported over a quarter of the nation's total freight volumes [PDF(PDF).
The federal railroad is managed like any other business. It has departments for marketing and operations, sales, and an executive department. The department of marketing and sales consults with customers and potential clients to determine what services they require and how much they should cost. The operations department then develops the rail services that satisfy those requirements at the lowest possible cost to earn money for the railroad. The executive department supervises the entire operation and ensures that each department is running efficiently.
The government supports the railways in a variety ways, from grants to subsidized rates for government-owned transport. Congress also provides funds to help build new track and stations. These subsidies 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 shareholder that is the United States government.
The Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) main task is to formulate 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 rail security to determine trends and areas that require improvement or regulatory attention and to determine trends.
FRA also has other projects to improve the economy and safety of railway transportation in the United States. For instance, the agency seeks to eliminate obstacles that might 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 gets too close to a vehicle or other object.
History
The nation's first railroads were built in the 1820s and 1830s mostly in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. The railroads accelerated industrialization and brought more food items to the market in these regions. This development allowed the country to become more independent and less dependent on foreign imports, which contributed to a stronger economic base.
In the 19th century's final years the railroad industry experienced the benefits of a "Golden Age" in which new, more efficient rail lines were built and passenger transportation became popular. The government's efforts to expand the railroad system was an important aspect. For example the government offered land grants to homesteaders to encourage them to settle in the West and the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads joined forces to construct the first transcontinental railroad, which allowed travel from New York to San Francisco in just six days.
In the first half century however, the demand for rail passenger services decreased, and other modes of transportation such as cars and planes became more popular. However, stifling regulations made it difficult for railroads to compete. A series of bankruptcies, delays in maintenance and service cuts followed. Uninformed federal rail regulations also contributed to the decline.
In the year 1970 the federal government started to loosen the regulatory burdens on railroads. Surface Transportation Board was created to oversee economic aspects like railroad rates and mergers. The Federal Railroad Administration, which supervises freight and passenger transportation and sets standards for rail safety, was also created.
Since then, a large amount of investment has been made in the country's railway infrastructure. The Northeast Corridor has been rebuilt for instance, in order to accommodate 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 the safety and reliability of rails in the near future. It is the job of FRA to help make sure that the nation's transportation system operates as efficiently as possible.