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The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for rail safety regulations and enforcement, as well as funding for rail, and research on rail improvement strategies. FRA field inspectors use discretion to decide which cases merit the precise and lengthy civil penalty process. This helps ensure that the most serious violations are punished. Members of SMART-TD and their allies have made history in 2024 by pushing the FRA to keep two people in the cabs of locomotives of freight trains. The fight is not over. Safety The Federal Railroad Administration has a range of safety measures in place to safeguard the safety and health of employees as well as the general public. It creates and enforces regulations for rail safety as well as manages funding for rail and researches rail improvement strategies and technology. It also develops plans, implements and maintains an action plan to maintain current rail services and infrastructure. It also develops and improves the rail network across the nation. The department requires that all rail employers adhere to strict regulations, empower their employees and provide them with the tools to ensure their safety and success. This includes taking part in the confidential close-call reporting system, establishing labor-management occupational safety and health committees, with full participation from unions and anti-retaliation clauses and giving employees the necessary personal protective gear. Inspectors of the FRA are at the forefront of enforcing safety on rail laws and regulations. They conduct routine inspections of equipment and investigate hundreds of complaints. Civil penalties can be handed out to those who violate the rail safety laws. Safety inspectors from the agency have a wide discretion to determine if an act is within the statutory definition of an act that is punishable with civil penalties. The Office of Chief Counsel's safety division also examines all reports submitted by regional offices to determine if they are legal before assessing penalties. This discretion is exercised both at the field and regional levels to ensure that civil penalties are only applied in situations that warrant them. To be guilty of a civil infringement the employee of a rail company must be aware of the rules and regulations that govern the conduct of his or her employees. They must also be aware of and disregard these standards. However, the agency does not consider anyone who acts under a directive from a supervisor to have committed an intentional violation. The agency defines “general railroad system” as the whole network that transports passengers and goods between cities and metropolitan areas. The trackage of a plant railroad within the steel mill is not considered to be part of the overall rail transportation system, despite the fact that it is physically connected. Regulation The Federal Railroad Administration sets train regulations, ranging from those related to safety and the movement of hazardous materials. The agency oversees rail finance, including grants and loan for infrastructure and service improvement. The agency collaborates with other DOT agencies and the industry to develop strategies to improve the nation's railroad system. This includes ensuring the current rail infrastructure and services, responding to the demands for capacity expansion and expanding the network strategically and coordinating national and regional system planning and development. While most of the agency's work is focused on freight transportation, it also manages the transportation of passengers. The agency is working to provide more options for passenger travel and connect people to the places they'd like to travel to. The agency's focus is on improving the passenger's experience, enhancing safety of the existing fleet, and ensuring that the rail system continues to operate efficiently. Railroads must adhere to a number of federal regulations, relating to the size of the crews on trains. This is an issue of contention in recent years, with some states passing legislation that requires two-person crews on trains. This final rule codifies federally the minimum size of crew requirements, making sure that all railroads follow the same safety standards. This rule also requires each railroad operating a single-person train crew to inform FRA of the operation and submit an assessment of risk. This will enable FRA to assess the requirements of each operation with those of a two-person standard crew operation. fela lawsuit settlements changes the review standard of an approval request that is a special case from determining whether an operation is “consistent” with railroad safety to determining if the operation is safer or more secure than a two-person crew operations. During the public comment period for this rule, a large number of people supported the requirement for a two-person crew. In a letter to the editor 29 people voiced their concerns that a single crewmember would not be capable of responding in a timely manner to incidents or train malfunctions at grade crossings, or assist emergency response personnel at an elevated highway crossing. The commenters noted that human factors are responsible for more than half railroad accidents and believe that a larger crew would help ensure the safety of the train and its cargo. Technology Railroads that transport passengers and freight employ a wide array of technologies to enhance efficiency, add safety, boost security and much more. The language used in the rail industry contains a myriad of specific terms and acronyms, but some of the more significant developments include machine vision systems, instrumented rail inspection systems, driverless trains, rolling data centers and unmanned aerial vehicles (commonly called drones). Technology isn't just replacing some jobs, it's also empowering people to do their job more efficiently and with greater security. Passenger railroads use smartphones apps and contactless fare cards to boost ridership and improve the efficiency of their system. Other innovations like autonomous rail cars are coming closer to reality. The Federal Railroad Administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to improve safe, reliable, and affordable transportation in the United States is focusing on modernizing the rail infrastructure. This multi-billion dollar project will see tunnels, bridges tracks, power systems and tracks updated and stations being rebuilt or replaced. The FRA's rail improvement program will be significantly increased by the recently approved bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Office of Research, Development and Technology of the agency is a key element in this initiative. The National Academies' recent review of the office revealed that it excelled in keeping in touch with inputs from a variety of stakeholders. But it must concentrate on how its research helps the department achieve its primary objective of ensuring the safe movement of people and goods by railway. The agency could increase its effectiveness by identifying and implementing automated train systems and technologies. The Association of American Railroads, the freight rail industry's primary business organization that is focused on research, policy, and standardization and has created a Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to assist in the development of industry standards for implementing the technology. FRA is likely to be interested in the group's creation of an automated rail taxonomy, which is a system of standards to clearly and consistently define different levels of automation that will be applicable to both rail and on-road transit vehicles. The agency will also be looking to understand the level of safety risk that the industry perceives associated with implementing fully automated operation and whether or not the industry is considering additional safeguards to mitigate that risk. Innovation Railroads are embracing technology to increase worker safety, make business processes more efficient and help ensure that the cargo they move reaches its destination safely. These innovations include cameras and sensors that monitor freight, to new railcar designs that help keep dangerous cargo safe during transport. Certain of these technologies enable railroads to send emergency responders directly to the scene of an accident to reduce the risk and damage to property and people. One of the most prominent innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC), which will inhibit collisions between trains and trains, situations in which trains are on tracks they shouldn't be, and other accidents that result from human errors. This system is a three-part process consisting of locomotives onboard that track the train and wayside networks that communicate with the locomotive, and a massive backend server that collects and analyzes data. Trains for passengers also adopt technology to improve security and safety. Amtrak, for example, is testing the use of drones in order to help train security personnel locate passengers and other items in the event of an emergency. The company is also exploring ways to make use of drones. They could be used to examine bridges and other infrastructure, or to replace the lights on railway towers that are dangerous for workers to climb. Smart track technology is another technology that can be utilized in railways for passengers. It is able to detect objects or people on tracks and warn motorists that it is not safe to continue. These technologies are especially useful in detecting crossings that are not authorized or other issues during the evenings when traffic is less and there are less witnesses to an accident. Another important technological advancement in the rail industry is telematics which allows shippers, railroads and other stakeholders to view a traincar's status and condition via real-time tracking. These capabilities provide railcar operators and their crews more accountability and transparency and assist them in improving efficiency, prevent unnecessary maintenance and avoid delays in the delivery of freight to customers.