The Federal Railroad Administration

The Federal Railroad Administration is one of the DOT's 10 agencies involved in intermodal transportation. Its mission is to enable the safe and reliable movement of people and goods.

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

Definition

Federal railroads are rail carriers in the United States controlled by the federal government. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, creates and enforces regulations for railways and regulates funds for railroads, and conducts research to improve rail transportation. The FRA is one of the 10 agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation which is responsible for intermodal transportation, and its chief executive officers are the Administrator and Deputy Administrator.

The agency is responsible for all freight and passenger transportation that uses the nation's railway network. The agency also coordinates government funding for rail transportation and assists in the rehabilitation of Northeast Corridor passenger service. Additionally, the agency oversees the operation and ownership of all intermodal facilities such as tracks, right-of-way equipment and real property as well as rolling stock. It also handles the overall coordination of federal rail transportation programs.

The FRA's duties include establishing, through regulation, following the notification and comment, a process by anyone can submit a report to the Secretary of Homeland Security concerning railroad security problems or inconsistencies. The agency also formulates guidelines, conducts inspections and reviews compliance with its rail laws in six different technical disciplines, including track signals, track and train control locomotive power and equipment; operating practices; hazmat and highway-rail grade intersections.

The agency has the responsibility of making sure the railroad transportation system is safe, economical and sustainable. The agency also requires that railroads to maintain a safe workplace and provide adequate training for their employees. Additionally, the agency establishes and enforces railroad rates to ensure that the public receives an equitable price for their transportation services.

Additionally the Federal Railroad Administration enacts and enforces rules to stop discrimination against railroad employees, as well as protects whistleblowers from retaliation from railroad carriers. The agency also has a procedure by which railroad employees can make complaints against the company's actions.

The primary goal of the FRA is to ensure the secure reliable and efficient movement of goods and people to build a stronger America both now and in the future. The FRA achieves this by overseeing the regulation of rail safety, managing programs for assistance to railroads conducting research in support of better safety of railroads and national transportation policies, coordinating rail networking development and helping the private industry manage railroads. In the past, railroads dominated the market with no competition. The railroad industry took advantage of its dominant position in the market as a result. Therefore, Congress established the Interstate Commerce Commission and other regulatory agencies to curb the abuses of railroad monopolies.

Purpose

Federal railroads are federal agencies that set rules, regulate funds for rail and conduct research to improve rail transportation in the United States. It is responsible for the railroad infrastructure of the United States and manages passenger and freight railroads. It is one of ten agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also responsible for maintaining and expanding the existing railroad systems.

The primary responsibility of the government in the field of rail transportation is safety. The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for this. It has a number of divisions that supervise the country's freight and passenger rail operations. The largest of these is the Office of Railroad Safety, which has around 350 safety inspectors and is responsible for conducting inspections to determine the compliance with 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 several departments, including the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This department oversees programs aimed at improving freight and passenger railway transport, including the Northeast Corridor Future. This department is responsible for granting grants given to railways and works with other agencies in order to plan the nation's railway requirements.

Another essential duty of the FRA is the enforcement of certain federal laws regarding railroads and their employees. This includes stopping railroads from discriminating against employees and ensuring that injured railway workers are provided with transportation to the nearest hospital for initial aid treatment. Railroads are also prohibited from delay or refuse medical treatment for injured railway workers.

The FRA is the primary regulator of the passenger and freight rail industry, however other agencies oversee the economic aspects of rail transportation. The Surface Transportation Board, for example is responsible for setting rates and governing the economics of the sector. It is also responsible for regulating mergers in the railroad industry lines sales, construction and abandonment. Other responsibilities include establishing rules after opportunity for public input that allows anyone to complain about alleged safety violations to the agency.

Functions

Railroads carry people and goods to and from cities in developed nations as well as remote villages in less developed countries. They transport raw materials from manufacturing and processing facilities, and then finished products from these facilities to stores or warehouses. Railroads are an essential mode of transportation for a variety of essential products, including coal, oil, and grains. In 2020, freight railroads moved more than a quarter of the freight in the United States [PDF].

The federal railroad is run like any other business. It has departments for marketing and operations, Injured sales, and an executive department. The marketing and sales department works with potential and existing customers as well as clients to determine what services they need and what they need to cost. The operations department then creates rail services that meet these needs at the lowest cost possible to make money for railroads. The executive department oversees the entire operation and makes sure that each department is operating efficiently.

The government supports the railways in a variety ways from grants to subsidised rates for shipping government traffic. Congress also provides money to help build and maintain new stations and tracks. 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 the United States Government as a major stockholder.

The Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) main task is to formulate and enforce safety regulations for railroads. This includes regulating the mechanical condition of trains and the safety and health of railroad employees. FRA also gathers and analyzes data on rail safety to identify trends and areas that may require more or better regulatory attention.

In addition to these core duties, FRA works on various other projects aimed at improving the security and economy of railroad transportation in the United States. For instance, the agency, aims to reduce the barriers that could delay railroads in the implementation of positive train control (PTC). PTC is a safety technology that uses sensors and computers on board to stop a train automatically when it is too close to an vehicle or object.

History

The first railroads in the United States were built in the 1820s and 1830s, largely in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. Railroads helped speed up industrialization and brought more food to markets in these regions. This allowed the country become more self-sufficient and less dependent on imports.

In the latter part of the nineteenth century, the railroad industry experienced an "Golden Age," during which many new trains that were more efficient were constructed and passenger travel via train became more popular. This was largely due to the government's efforts to expand the railroad system. For instance the government provided homesteaders grants of land to encourage them to move to the West and the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads collaborated to build 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 rail passenger services declined, and other modes of transport like planes and automobiles gained in popularity. In the meantime, the stifling of regulation stifled railroads' economic ability to compete. The industry was plagued by a succession of bankruptcy service cuts, bankruptcy, and deferred maintenance. Additionally, a misguided railroad regulations from the federal government led to the decline of the railroad industry.

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

Since then, a significant amount of money has been made in the nation's railway infrastructure. The Northeast Corridor has been rebuilt for law instance, in order to accommodate more efficient and modern high-speed ground transportation (HSGT). There have also been efforts to create more efficient freight rail. FRA hopes to continue to work with all transportation agencies to ensure safe and reliable rails in the future. The role of FRA is to ensure that the nation's transport system is running as efficiently as possible.