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The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology The Federal Railroad Administration creates and enforces rail safety regulations It also provides rail funding and conducts research on strategies to improve rail infrastructure. FRA field inspectors employ discretion to decide which cases are worthy of the precise and lengthy civil penalty process. This ensures that those violations most deserving of punishment are punished. SMART-TD and its allies made history by 2024 when they convinced the FRA that two people should be allowed to sit in the 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 employees and public. It is responsible for establishing and enforcing safety regulations for rail. It also manages the funding for rail and studies rail improvement strategies and technologies. It also formulates and implements a plan to ensure that current rail services, infrastructure and capacity, and strategically develops and enhances the national rail network. The department demands that all rail operators adhere to strict rules and empower their employees, and provide them with tools to ensure their safety and success. This includes taking part in the confidential close-call reporting system, establishing labor-management occupational health and safety committees, with full union participation, as well as anti-retaliation protections and providing employees with the necessary personal protection equipment. Inspectors of the FRA are at the leading edge of enforcing rail safety laws and regulations. They perform routine inspections on equipment and conduct investigations into hundreds of complaints. Those who violate rail safety laws may be penalized civilly. Safety inspectors from the agency have a wide discretion to determine if a violation falls under the legal definition of an offense that is punishable by civil penalties. The Office of Chief Counsel’s safety division also scrutinizes all reports submitted by regional offices to ensure they are legal prior to imposing penalties. This discretion is exercised at both the regional and field levels to ensure that civil penalties are only used in situations that warrant them. A rail employee must be aware of the rules and regulations that govern their actions, and not knowingly violate those guidelines to commit a civil penalty-worthy offense. However the agency doesn't consider any individual who follows a directive from a supervisor as having committed a willful violation. The agency defines “general railroad system” as the entire network that transports passengers and goods between metropolitan areas and cities. The trackage of a plant railroad in the steel mill is not considered to be part of the overall rail transportation system, even though it is physically connected. Regulation The Federal Railroad Administration sets train regulations, including those related to safety and the movement of hazardous materials. The agency also oversees rail financing which includes loans and grants for infrastructure and improvements to service. The agency works with other DOT agencies as well as industry to devise strategies to improve the nation's rail infrastructure. This includes maintaining the current rail infrastructure and services, addressing the needs for new capacity, expanding the network strategically, and coordinating the regional and national system development and planning. The agency is responsible for freight transportation but also manages passenger transportation. The agency aims to connect people with the places they'd like to visit and offer more alternatives for travel. fela lawyers is on improving the experience of passengers and enhancing the safety of the existing fleet, and ensuring that the rail system continues to operate efficiently. Railroads must comply with many federal regulations, including those related to the size of crews on trains. This is a controversial one in recent years, with a few states passing legislation to require two-person crews on trains. This final rule codifies the minimum crew size requirements at the federal level, making sure that all railroads are subject to consistent safety standards. This law also requires that each railroad that has a one-person crew notify FRA and submit an analysis of risk. This will allow FRA to better identify the specifics of each operation and compare them to the normal two-person crew operation. This rule also changes the criteria for reviewing an approval request that is a special case from determining if an operation is “consistent” with railroad safety, to determining if the operation is as secure or less risky than a two-person crew operation. During the public comment period for this rule, a lot of people backed the requirement of a two-person crew. In a form letter 29 people expressed their concerns that a single crew member will not be capable of responding with the speed required to respond to train accidents or malfunctions at grade crossings, or assist emergency response personnel on the highway-rail level crossing. The commenters emphasized that human factors are responsible for more than half all railroad accidents and they believe that a larger crew would help ensure the safety of both the train and its cargo. Technology Freight and passenger railroads employ various technologies to enhance efficiency, add safety, boost security and much more. Rail industry jargon covers a variety of distinct terms and acronyms. Some of the most well-known include machine vision systems (also called drones), instrumented rail-inspection systems driverless trains, rolling data centers, and unmanned aerial vehicles (also called drones). Technology isn't only able to replace certain jobs. It allows people to do their jobs better and safer. Railroads for passengers use apps on smartphones and contactless fare cards in order to increase passengership and boost the efficiency of their system. Other innovations, like autonomous rail vehicles, are inching closer to becoming reality. As part of its ongoing effort to improve secure, reliable and affordable transportation for the nation The Federal Railroad Administration is focused on modernizing its rail infrastructure. This is a multi-billion-dollar effort 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 increased by the recently approved bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a central element in this effort. Recent National Academies review of the office found that it excelled in engaging in a continuous dialogue and utilizing the inputs of a wide range of stakeholders. But it must focus more on how its research aids in the department's main objective of ensuring the safe movement of goods and people by railway. One area in which 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 freight rail industry's primary business organization that is focused on research, policy, and standard-setting, has established a Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to help develop industry standards to implement the technology. The FRA is interested in the development of a taxonomy for automated rail vehicles which defines clearly and consistently the different levels of automation. This would apply to rail transit as well as vehicles on the road. The agency will also be looking to know the degree of safety risk that the industry perceives associated when implementing a fully automated system and whether or not the industry is contemplating additional security measures to reduce the risk. Innovation Rail companies are adopting new technologies to enhance worker safety, boost efficiency in business processes, and ensure that the cargo they transport is delivered intact. Examples of this kind of innovations include the use of cameras and sensors to keep track of freight, and to new railcar designs that keep hazardous cargo safe during transit. Certain of these technologies enable railroads to dispatch emergency responders directly to the scene of an accident to minimize the risk and minimize damage to people and property. One of the most well-known innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC) that will stop collisions between trains and train, situations where trains are on tracks that shouldn't be, and other accidents resulting from human mistakes. This system is a three-part process consisting of locomotives onboard that track the train and wayside networks that connect with the locomotive, and a massive backend server that analyzes and collects data. Trains for passengers also adopt technology to improve security and safety. Amtrak is one example. It is experimenting with drones in order to help train security staff locate passengers and other items in the event of an emergency. The company is also looking into different ways to use drones, including deploying them to perform inspections of bridges and other infrastructure for example, replacing the lighting on railway towers, which could be dangerous for workers to climb. Smart track technology is another technology that can be utilized in railways that transport passengers. It can detect objects or people on tracks and alert motorists that it is not safe to continue. These technologies are especially useful for detecting unauthorized crossings or other issues in 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 railways, shippers and other stakeholders to monitor a traincar in real-time. These capabilities give railcar owners and crews greater accountability and transparency and aid in improving efficiency, avoid unnecessary maintenance, and prevent delays in the delivery of freight to customers.