Five Killer Quora Answers To Federal Railroad

The Federal Railroad Administration

The Federal Railroad Administration is one of the DOT's 10 departments involved in intermodal transportation. Its goal is to facilitate the safe and secure movement of people and goods.

FRA field inspectors examine the railroad track, train control and signal systems as well as operating procedures. They also investigate complaints.

Definition

Federal railroads are rail carriers in the United States controlled by the federal government. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is responsible for the creation and enforcement of railway safety rules, oversees railroad funding, and researches ways to improve the efficiency of rail transportation systems. The FRA is one of the 10 agencies of 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 utilizes the nation's railway network. The agency also coordinates government funding for rail transportation, and helps with the rehabilitation of Northeast Corridor passenger service. The agency also regulates ownership and operation of intermodal facilities like tracks, rights of way, equipment, real estate, and rolling stock. It also coordinates federal rail transportation programs.

The FRA's responsibilities are to establish through regulation, following the notification and comment, a process by which anyone can submit a report to the Secretary of Homeland Security concerning railroad security issues or deficiencies. The agency also develops policies, conducts inspections and assesses the compliance of its railroad laws in six technical disciplines, which include track, signal, and train control as well as motive power and equipment; operating procedures as well as hazmat and highway-rail grade intersections.

The agency is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the railroad transportation system is secure, economical, and environmentally friendly. The agency also requires that railroads maintain a safe work environment and provide adequate training to their employees. The agency also determines and enforces the cost of railroad services to ensure that the public is billed fairly for transportation services.

In addition, the Federal Railroad Administration enacts and enforces regulations to prevent discrimination against railroad employees, and protect whistleblowers from retaliation by railroad companies. The agency also has a procedure by which railroad employees can make complaints against the company's actions.

The agency's primary mission is to facilitate the safe reliable and efficient movement of people and goods to build a stronger America today and into the future. The FRA accomplishes this through overseeing the safety of railroads, regulating railroad assistance programs and conducting research that supports improved railroad safety and national rail transportation policy, coordinating and supporting rail networking development, and helping the private sector manage railroads. In the past, railroads were huge monopolies, with no competition. This meant that railroads often misused their position in the marketplace. Congress established the Interstate Commerce Commission, as well as other regulatory agencies to control railroad monopolies' abuses.

Purpose

The federal employers liability railroad is a government agency that makes regulations, manages funds for rail and researches ways to improve the nation's rail transportation system. It oversees both freight and passenger railroads and also manages the nation's railway infrastructure. It is one of ten agencies of the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also charged with maintaining and expanding current rail systems, ensuring the ability of the rail industry to meet the growing travel and freight demands and providing leadership in national and regional system planning.

Safety is the government's main responsibility when it comes to rail transportation. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is responsible for this, and has several divisions responsible for overseeing the country's passenger and freight railroad operations. The Office of Railroad Safety is the largest of them with a staff of around 350. It is responsible for conducting safety inspections in six different technical disciplines, including track signalling, train control, motive and equipment, operating procedures, hazmat, and highway-rail grade crossings.

FRA has other departments, including the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This oversees the programs that are meant to improve freight and passenger rail transportation, such as the Northeast Corridor Future. This department is responsible for the grants given to railways, and collaborates with other agencies to plan the nation's rail requirements.

The FRA also has a responsibility to enforce federal laws that pertain to railroads and their employees. This includes preventing railroads from discriminate against employees and ensuring that all injured railway staff are taken to the nearest hospital for treatment. Additionally, railroads are prohibited from refusing or delaying medical treatment for injured railway workers.

The FRA is the main regulator of the freight and passenger rail industries, however there are other agencies that oversee the economic aspects of rail transportation. The Surface Transportation Board, for instance is responsible for setting rates and governing the economics of the sector. It also has the authority to regulate railroad mergers and line sales construction and abandonment. After the public consultation period the agency is responsible for establishing rules that will allow anyone to report any suspected rail safety violations.

Functions

Rails transport goods and people from and to cities in the developed world as well as villages in less developed countries. They transport raw materials to processing and manufacturing factories, and then the final products from those factories to warehouses and stores. Rail is a crucial mode of transportation for a variety of essential commodities like grain, oil and coal. In 2020, freight rail moved more than a quarter of the nation's total freight volume [PDF(PDF).

The federal railroad is run as a business. It has departments for marketing, sale, operations and an executive department. The department for marketing and sales talks with customers and potential clients to determine what services they require and what they will cost. The operations department then creates rail services that meet these needs at the lowest price possible to generate revenue for railroads. The executive department oversees the entire operation, making sure every department is running smoothly.

The government offers support to the railways in a variety of ways from grants to subsidised rates for shipping government traffic. Congress also provides funds to support and build new stations and tracks. These subsidies are often in addition to the revenue railroads receive from tickets and freight contracts.

Amtrak is owned by the United States government. It is a quasi-public, for-profit corporation with a significant shareholder that is the United States government.

The Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) primary task is to formulate and enforce safety regulations for railroads. This involves regulating the mechanical condition of trains, as well as the safety and health of railroad employees. FRA also gathers and analyzes data on rail safety in order to identify trends and areas that need improved or increased regulation.

FRA also works on other projects to improve the economy and safety of railway transportation in the United States. For example, the agency seeks to eliminate obstacles that could delay railroads' implementation of positive train control systems (PTC). PTC is a safety system that uses sensors and computers on board to automatically stop the train when it is too close to a vehicle or other object.

History

The first railroads in the United States were built in the 1820s and 1830s, mostly in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. The railroads significantly accelerated the industrialization process in these regions and also brought more food to the market. This allowed the country to become more self-sufficient and less dependent upon imports from abroad, which in turn helped to foster a strong economic base.

In the latter part of the nineteenth century the railroad industry went through an "Golden Age," during which many new, more efficient rail lines were constructed, and passenger travel by train became popular. This was in large part because of the government's efforts to expand the railroad system. The government, for example, gave homesteaders land grants in order to encourage them to settle the West. Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads also partnered to build the first transcontinental railroad which allowed travelers to travel from New York City to San Francisco in just six days.

However in the early part of the 20th century, the demand for passenger railroad services declined and other modes of transport like cars and airplanes gained popularity, while the stifling of regulations hindered railroads competitiveness economically. A string of bankruptcies, service cuts and deferred maintenance were the result. In addition, misguided federal railway regulation caused the decline of the railroad industry.

Around 1970 the federal government started to ease the regulatory shackles on railroads. The Surface Transportation Board was established to oversee the economic aspects of the industry, such as mergers and railroad rates. The Federal Railroad Administration, which regulates freight and passenger transport and sets standards for rail safety was also established.

Since then, a significant deal of investment has been made in the nation's railway infrastructure. The Northeast Corridor, for example was rebuilt to accommodate more efficient, faster and modern high-speed ground transportation (HSGT) trains. There are also efforts to create more efficient freight rail. In the future, FRA hopes to continue its partnership with all transportation agencies in order to ensure safe and reliable railroads. It is the job of FRA to ensure that the transportation system of the United States operates as efficiently as possible.