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The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for the safety of rail, regulations and enforcement, as well as funding for rail, and research on rail improvement strategies. FRA field inspectors use discretion to determine which cases merit the precise and time consuming civil penalty process. This discretion helps ensure that the most serious violations of punishment are penalized. Members of SMART-TD and their allies have made history in 2024 by pushing the FRA to ensure that two people are in the locomotive cab of freight trains. The fight isn't over. Safety The Federal Railroad Administration has a range of safety measures in place to safeguard the health and safety of its employees and the general public. It develops and enforces safety regulations for rail as well as manages funding for rail and researches rail improvement strategies and technology. It also develops the implementation and maintenance of an action plan to maintain the current infrastructure and services for rail. It also develops and improves the rail network across the nation. The department expects all rail employers to adhere to the strictest rules and regulations, and empower their employees and provide them with the tools needed to be successful and secure. This includes taking part in the confidential close-call reporting system, establishing labor-management occupational safety and health committees with full-union participation and antiretaliation provisions and providing employees with the required personal protective equipment. Inspectors of the FRA are at the forefront of enforcing safety on rail laws and regulations. They conduct routine inspections on equipment and investigate complaints from hundreds of people. Civil penalties can be applied to those who break railroad safety laws. The agency's safety inspectors are able to decide on the extent to which a particular violation meets the legal definition of a criminal penalty-worthy act. The Office of Chief Counsel's safety division also scrutinizes the reports submitted by regional offices to determine if they are legal prior to imposing penalties. This discretion is exercised at both the field and regional levels to ensure that civil penalties are only used in situations that warrant them. Rail employees must be aware of rules and regulations that govern their actions and knowingly disregard those standards to be guilty of a civil penalty-worthy offence. However the agency doesn't consider any individual who follows a directive from a supervisor to have committed a willful violation. fela railroad accident lawyer defines the “general railroad system of transportation” as the entire network over which goods and passengers travel within metropolitan areas, or between them. The trackage of a plant railroad within the steelmill isn't considered to be part of the overall rail transportation system, despite the fact that it's physically connected. Regulation The Federal Railroad Administration sets train regulations, ranging from those related to safety and the movement of hazardous materials. The agency manages railway finance, including grants and loan to improve service and infrastructure. The agency works with other DOT agencies as well as industry to develop strategies to improve the nation's rail system. This includes ensuring the existing rail infrastructure and services, addressing the needs for capacity expansion and expanding the network strategically, as well as coordinating the regional and national system's planning and development. Although the majority of the agency's activities are focused on freight transportation, it also manages passenger transportation. The agency is aiming to provide more options for passengers and connect people to the places they'd like to go. The agency's primary focus is on improving the passenger's experience as well as enhancing the safety of its existing fleet, and ensuring that the rail system continues to operate efficiently. Railroads must abide by a variety of federal regulations, including those pertaining to the size of the crews on trains. This issue has become a controversial one in recent years, with a few states passing legislation to require two-person crews on trains. This final rule establishes federally the minimum crew size requirements, ensuring that all railroads follow the same safety standards. This rule also requires that each railroad operating a one-person crew notify FRA and submit an analysis of risk. This will allow FRA to assess the requirements of each operation to the parameters of a standard two-person crew operation. In addition this rule alters the criteria for reviewing a special approval petition from determining whether an operation is “consistent with railroad safety” to determining whether the operation would be as secure or as safe as a two-crewmember operation. During the period of public comment on this rule, a number of people expressed their support for a requirement for two people on the crew. A letter from 29 people expressed their concern that a single crew member might not be as quick to respond to train malfunctions or grade crossing incidents or assist emergency response personnel at a highway-rail grade crossing. The commenters pointed out that human factors are responsible for more than half railroad accidents and believe that a larger team could help ensure the safety of the train and its cargo. Technology Trains for passenger and freight use various technologies to improve efficiency, increase safety, and boost security. The rail industry vernacular includes many specific terms and acronyms, but some of the more notable innovations include machine vision systems, instrumentsed rail inspection systems, driverless trains rolling data centers and drones that are not piloted (commonly called drones). Technology doesn't just replace some jobs. It empowers people to perform their jobs more effectively and more safely. Passenger railroads are using smartphones and contactless fare payment cards in order to boost ridership and improve the efficiency of the system. 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, reliable, and affordable transportation in America, is focused on modernizing the railway infrastructure. This is a multi-billion dollars project that will see tunnels and bridges rebuilt, tracks and power systems upgraded, and stations rebuilt or replaced. The FRA's rail improvement program will be substantially extended by the recently passed bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a major element in this effort. Recent National Academies review of the office found it excelled at engaging in a continuous dialogue and utilizing the inputs from a range of stakeholders. But it must concentrate on how its research contributes to the department's primary strategic goal of ensuring safe movement of goods and people by railway. One area where the agency may be able to improve its effectiveness is in identifying and assisting the advancement of automated train technology and systems. The Association of American Railroads, the primary freight rail association that focuses on research, policy, and standard setting, has established a Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to help in developing industry standards to implement 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 be applicable to both rail transit and vehicles on the road. The agency would like to know the amount of risk that the industry perceives with fully automated operation, and if the industry is considering additional safeguards to reduce the risk. Innovation Railroads are embracing technology to improve worker safety and make business processes more efficient and help ensure that the freight it transports arrives at its destination in good condition. Examples of such technological advancement include the use of cameras and sensors to monitor freight, to new railcar designs that keep dangerous cargo safe during transit. Some of these technologies allow railroads dispatch emergency personnel directly to the scene of an accident to reduce the danger and minimize the damages to property and individuals. One of the most renowned innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC) that will stop train-to-train collisions, situations where trains are on tracks they shouldn't be, as well as other accidents resulting from human errors. It is a three-part system comprised of onboard locomotive systems that track the train and wayside networks that communicate with the locomotive, and a huge backend server that gathers and analyzes data. Trains for passengers are also adopting technology to bolster security and safety. Amtrak, for example, is experimenting with drones to assist train security staff locate passengers and items in the event of an emergency. The company is also looking into other possibilities to utilize drones, including deploying drones to conduct inspections of bridges as well as other infrastructure, for example, replacing the lights on railway towers that could be dangerous for workers to climb. Other technologies that could be utilized for passenger railroads include smart track technology, which can detect the presence of objects or people on the tracks and issue drivers with a warning if it's unsafe to proceed. These types of technology are especially useful in detecting crossings that are not authorized and other issues during times when traffic levels are lower and there are fewer people to witness an accident. Another important technological advancement in the rail industry is telematics, which allows shippers, railroads and other stakeholders to view the condition and status of a traincar through real-time tracking. Traincar crews and operators can benefit from greater accountability and transparency which will allow them to improve efficiency, avoid unnecessary maintenance and delay in the delivery of freight.