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The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology The Federal Railroad Administration creates and enforces safety regulations for rail It also provides rail funding and researches rail improvement strategies. fela accident attorney make use of discretion to decide which cases merit the precise and time consuming civil penalty process. This ensures that the most serious violations of punishment are punished. SMART-TD members and allies made history in 2024 when they began pushing the FRA to keep two people in the locomotive cab of freight trains. The fight continues. Safety The Federal Railroad Administration has a variety of safety measures in place to protect the health and welfare of employees as well as the general public. It creates and enforces rail safety regulations, administers rail funding and studies strategies for improving rail infrastructure and technology. It also develops the implementation and maintenance of plans for the maintenance of the current infrastructure and services for rail. It also works to expand and improve the rail network across the nation. The department expects all rail employers to abide by strict rules and regulations, empower their employees and provide them with tools to be successful and secure. This includes participating in an anonymous close-call reporting system, setting up labor-management occupational safety and health committees that have full union participation and antiretaliation provisions and providing employees with the needed personal protective gear. Inspectors of the FRA are at the forefront of enforcing safety on rail regulations and laws. They perform routine inspections on equipment and investigate hundreds of complaints. Those who violate the safety rules for rail can be subject to civil penalties. Safety inspectors from the agency have a broad discretion on whether a particular violation meets the legal definition of a crime that is punishable by civil penalties. The Office of Chief Counsel’s safety division also reviews the reports submitted by regional offices to ensure they are legal prior to imposing penalties. This discretion is exercised both at the field and regional levels to ensure that civil penalties are only applied in cases that warrant their use. A rail employee must be aware of rules and regulations that govern their actions and knowingly disregard those guidelines to commit a criminal offense that is punishable by a civil penalty. The agency doesn't consider that a person who acts in response to a supervisor's direction is guilty of committing a willful crime. The agency defines the “general railroad system of transportation” as the whole network that allows passengers and goods to travel within metropolitan areas or between them. The trackage of a plant railroad at the steel mill isn't considered part of the general transportation system that trains, even though it is physically connected to it. Regulation The Federal Railroad Administration sets train regulations, ranging from those related to safety and the movement of hazardous materials. The agency also oversees rail financing including loans and grants for improvements to infrastructure and service. The agency works with other DOT agencies and industry to develop strategies to improve the nation's rail system. This work includes maintaining existing rail infrastructure and services and addressing the need for new capacity and strategically expanding the network as well as coordinating regional and national systems planning and development. The agency is mostly responsible for freight transport, but also manages passenger transportation. The agency is aiming to provide more options for passengers and connect people with the places they would like to travel to. The agency is focused primarily on improving the passenger's experience as well as enhancing the safety of its existing fleet, and ensuring that the rail network is operating efficiently. Railroads must abide by a variety of federal regulations, including those related to the size of the crews on trains. This issue has become controversial in recent years, with a few states passing legislation that requires two-person crews on trains. This final rule codifies federally the minimum size crew requirements, making sure that all railroads follow the same safety standards. This rule also requires each railroad that has a single-person train crew to notify FRA of the operation and submit an assessment of risk. This will allow FRA to compare the parameters of each operation to those of a two-person standard crew operation. This rule also alters the standard for reviewing an approval request that is a special case from determining whether an operation is “consistent” with railroad safety, to determining if the operation is as safe or more secure than a two-person crew operations. During the public comment period on this rule, many people backed the requirement of a two-person crew. In a formal letter 29 people expressed their concern that a single crew member will not be capable of responding with the speed required to respond to incidents or train malfunctions at grade crossings, or assist emergency response personnel at an elevated highway crossing. The commenters emphasized that human factors are responsible for more than half railroad accidents and believe that a larger team would help ensure the safety of the train and its cargo. Technology Railroads for passenger and freight use various technologies to enhance efficiency, add security, increase safety and much more. Rail industry jargon comprises a variety of unique terms and acronyms. Some of the most notable include machine vision systems (also called drones) and rail-inspection systems that are instrumented, driverless train, rolling data centers, and unmanned aerial vehicle (also known as drones). Technology isn't just about replacing certain jobs. It allows people to perform their jobs more effectively and safer. Railroads that transport passengers are using smartphones and contactless fare payment cards to improve ridership and make the system more efficient. Other innovations, such as autonomous rail vehicles, are moving closer to becoming a reality. The Federal Railroad Administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to improve safe affordable, reliable, and secure transportation in the United States, is focused on modernizing the railway infrastructure. This is a multi-billion dollar project that will see bridges and tunnels rebuilt tracks, power systems and tracks upgraded and stations rebuilt or replaced. FRA's recently passed bipartisan infrastructure law will significantly expand the agency's rail improvements programs. The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a key element in this effort. The most recent National Academies review of the office revealed that it was successful in engaging with, maintaining communication and utilizing inputs from a range of stakeholders. It still needs to consider how its research contributes to the department's main goal of ensuring the safety of goods and people by rail. One area where the agency could be able improve its effectiveness is in identifying and supporting the advancement of automated train technology and systems. The Association of American Railroads, the primary freight rail business organization that is focused on research, policy, and standardization and has created a Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to help develop industry standards for the implementation of the technology. The FRA is interested in the group's development of a taxonomy for automated rail vehicles which defines clearly and consistently the different levels of automation. This could apply to rail transit as well as on-road vehicles. The agency will want to know the level of risk the industry sees in fully automated operation, and if the industry is contemplating any additional safeguards to reduce that risk. Innovation Rail companies are adopting technology to enhance worker safety, increase efficiency in business processes and ensure that the freight they transport arrives at its destination in good condition. Examples of this kind of innovation include the use of cameras and sensors to track freight, to the latest railcar designs that keep hazardous cargo safe during transport. Certain of these technologies allow railroads to send emergency response personnel to locations of accidents so they can quickly mitigate the damage and reduce the risk to people and property. One of the most renowned innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC) which will prevent train-to-train collisions, situations where trains are on tracks that shouldn't be, and other accidents resulting from human errors. This system is made up of three parts consisting of locomotives onboard that track the train; wayside networks which communicate with the locomotive and a huge server that analyzes and collects data. Railroads that transport passengers also use technology to improve safety and security. For instance, Amtrak is experimenting with drones to assist passenger security personnel in finding passengers and items on board trains in case of an emergency. The company is also examining ways to make use of drones. They could be used to inspect bridges and other infrastructure, or to replace the lights on railway towers, which are dangerous for workers to climb. Other technologies that could be utilized for passenger railroads include smart track technology, which is able to detect the presence of people or objects on the tracks and send out drivers with a warning if it's unsafe for them to proceed. These types of technologies are particularly useful in detecting crossings that are not authorized and other problems during times when traffic volumes are lowest and there are fewer people to witness an accident. Another important technological advancement in the railway industry is telematics which allows railroads, shippers and other stakeholders to see a traincar's status and condition through real-time tracking. These capabilities give railcar owners and crews better accountability and visibility and can help them improve efficiency, avoid unnecessary maintenance and reduce delays in delivering freight to customers.