5 Killer Quora Answers On Federal Railroad
The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology
The Federal Railroad Administration creates and enforces rail safety regulations, provides rail funding and studies strategies for improving rail safety.
FRA inspectors on the ground make use of discretion to decide which cases merit the time-consuming and precise civil penalty procedure. This discretion helps to ensure that the most serious violations are penalized.
SMART-TD, along with its allies, made history in 2024 when they convinced the FRA that two persons should be allowed in the locomotive cabs of freight trains. The fight is not over.
Safety
The Federal Railroad Administration implements a number of safety measures to ensure the health of its employees and public. It is responsible for creating and enforcing rail safety regulations. It also administers the funding for rail and conducts research on improvements to rail strategies and technologies. It also creates and implements a strategy to maintain current rail services, infrastructure and capacity, and strategically expands and improves the national rail network. The department expects that all rail employers adhere to strict guidelines, empower their employees and provide them with tools to ensure their safety and success. This includes participating in the secure close call reporting system, establishing labor-management occupational health and safety committees that have full union participation, as well as anti-retaliation safeguards, and providing employees with needed personal protection equipment.
FRA inspectors are at the forefront of enforcement of rail safety regulations and laws. They conduct regular inspections of equipment and conduct hundreds of investigations of complaints of noncompliance. Civil penalties are imposed on those who violate rail safety laws. The agency's safety inspectors are able to decide on the extent to which an incident falls within the statutory description of a criminal penalty-worthy act. In addition, the Office of Chief Counsel's security division reviews all reports that are received by regional offices to determine legality prior to assessing penalties. The exercise of this discretion at the field and regional levels helps ensure that the exacting, time-consuming civil penalty process is applied only in situations that truly warrant the deterrent impact of a civil penalty.
To be guilty of a civil violation an employee of a railroad must be aware of the rules and regulations governing his or her actions. They must also be aware of and ignore these rules. The agency does not consider that a person who acts upon a directive from a supervisor has committed a willful offense. The agency defines "general railroad system" as the entire system that transports passengers and goods between metropolitan areas and cities. The trackage of a plant railroad in a steel mill is not considered to be part of the general transportation system by rail, even though it is physically connected to it.
Regulation
The Federal Railroad Administration sets train regulations, ranging from those related to safety and movement of hazardous materials. The agency also manages rail financing, including grants and loans for improvements to infrastructure and service. The agency works with other DOT agencies and the industry to develop strategies for improving the nation's railroad system. This includes ensuring the existing rail infrastructure and services, addressing the needs for new capacity, expanding the network strategically and coordinating the regional and national system's development and planning.
While most of the agency's activities are focused on freight transportation, it also oversees the transportation of passengers. The agency is trying to connect people to the places they want and provide more alternatives for travel. The agency is focused on enhancing the passenger experience, increasing the safety of the current fleet, and making sure that the railway system continues to function efficiently.
Railroads must comply with a number of federal regulations, including those relating to the size and composition of train crews. This is an issue of contention in recent years, with several states passing legislation to require two-person crews on trains. This final rule outlines the minimum crew size requirements at an international level, and ensures that all railroads are subject to consistent safety standards.
This rule also requires each railroad that operates a one-person train crew to inform FRA of the operation and submit a risk assessment. This will allow FRA to better identify the specifics of each operation and compare them with the normal two-person crew operation. In addition this rule will change the standard of review for a special approval petition from determining whether the operation is "consistent with railroad safety" to determining whether approving the operation would be as safe or safer than a two-crewmember operation.
During the period of public comment on this rule, a number of people expressed their support for a requirement for a two person crew. In a formal letter 29 people expressed their concerns that a single member of the crew is not capable of responding with the speed required to respond to incidents or train malfunctions at grade crossings or assist emergency response personnel on a highway-rail level crossing. The commenters emphasized that human factors are responsible for more than half all railroad accidents and believe that a larger team would help ensure the safety of the train and the cargo it transports.
Technology
Railroads that transport passengers and freight employ a wide array of technologies to improve efficiency, add security, increase safety and more. The rail industry lingo includes a variety of distinct terms and acronyms but some of the most significant developments include machines-vision systems, instrumented rail inspection systems, driverless trains, rolling data centers, and unmanned aerial vehicles (commonly called drones).
Technology isn't just about replacing certain jobs. It empowers people to perform their jobs better and with greater security. Railroads that transport passengers use smartphones and contactless fare cards in order to increase ridership and increase the efficiency of their system. Other innovations such as autonomous rail cars are coming closer to becoming reality.
The Federal Railroad Administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to promote secure, reliable, and affordable transportation in the United States, is focused on modernizing the railway infrastructure. This is a multi-billion-dollar initiative that will see tunnels and bridges restored, tracks and power systems upgraded and stations rebuilt or replaced. FRA's recently enacted bipartisan infrastructure law will substantially expand the agency's rail improvements programs.
The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a central component of this effort. The most recent National Academies review of the office revealed that it was successful in engaging in a continuous dialogue and utilizing the inputs from a variety of stakeholders. But it still needs to concentrate on how its research contributes to the department's primary objective of ensuring the safe movement of goods and people by rail.
One area in which the agency might be able to improve its effectiveness is by identifying and assisting the advancement of automated train systems and technologies. The Association of American Railroads (AAR), the primary industry association for the freight rail industry, which is focused on research and policy, as well as standard setting created a Technical Advisory Group for Autonomous Train Operations to help create standards within the industry.
The FRA is interested in the group’s development of a taxonomy to describe automated rail vehicles which defines clearly and consistently different levels of automation. This could apply to rail transit as well as vehicles on the road. The agency will want to know the degree of risk the industry perceives with fully automated operation, and whether the industry is contemplating any additional safeguards to minimize that risk.
Innovation
Railroads are adopting technology to boost worker safety and make business processes more efficient, and ensure that the cargo they move reaches its destination safely. Examples of this kind of innovation vary from the use sensors and cameras to track freight, to the latest railcar designs that keep dangerous cargo secure during transit. Certain of these technologies enable railroads to send emergency responders directly to the scene of an accident to reduce the danger and minimize the damage to people and property.
One of the most renowned innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC), which will inhibit train-to-train collisions, situations where trains are on tracks that shouldn't be, and other accidents that result from human errors. This system is a three-part system comprised of locomotives onboard that track the train and wayside networks that connect with the locomotive, Fela Claims (Cubictd.Wiki) and a huge backend server that analyzes and collects data.
Trains for passengers also adopt technology to improve security and safety. For instance, Amtrak is experimenting with drones to assist passenger security personnel in locating passengers and items on board trains in case of an emergency. The company is also exploring ways to utilize 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 can be utilized for passenger railroads include smart track technology, which is able to detect the presence of objects or people on the tracks and send out an alert to drivers when it's unsafe to proceed. These technologies are especially useful for detecting unauthorized crossings or other issues during the evenings when traffic is less and there are fewer witnesses to an accident.
Telematics is yet another significant technological advance in the rail industry. It allows shippers, railways and other stakeholders, to monitor a traincar in real-time. Crews and railcar operators will benefit from increased accountability and transparency, which will help them increase efficiency, avoid unnecessary maintenance and delay in the delivery of freight.