• 목록
• 답변
• 글쓰기
• 게시판 리스트 옵션
  • 수정
  • 삭제

The Federal Railroad Administration

The Federal Railroad Administration is one of the DOT's 10 agencies that deal with intermodal transportation. Its purpose is to ensure the safe and reliable movement of people and goods.

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

Definition

A federal railroad is a rail carrier in the United States that is controlled by the federal government. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, develops and enforces railway regulations and regulates funds for railroads, and conducts research to improve the efficiency of rail transportation. The FRA is one of the 10 agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation that is concerned with intermodal transportation, and its chief executive officers are the Administrator and Deputy Administrator.

The agency is responsible for all passenger and freight transportation that utilizes the nation's railway network. The agency also coordinates the funding provided by the federal government for rail transportation and supports the rehabilitation of the 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 oversees federal rail transportation programs.

The FRA's responsibilities are to establish through regulation, following an notification and comment, a process by which any person may report to the Secretary of Homeland Security concerning railroad security issues or shortcomings. Additionally, the FRA establishes policies and conducts inspections in order to evaluate the compliance of its rail safety laws in six technical disciplines tracks, signal and train control, motive power and equipment, operating practices, hazmat and highway-rail grade crossings.

The agency has the responsibility of ensuring that the rail transportation system is safe, efficient, and environmentally friendly. The agency also requires railroads maintain a safe work environment and provide adequate training to their employees. The agency also sets and enforces railroad prices to ensure that the public is charged in a fair manner for transportation services.

In addition to that, the Federal Railroad Administration enacts and enforces regulations to prevent discrimination against railroad workers, and also protects whistleblowers from being retaliated against by railroad carriers. The agency also establishes procedures for railroad employees can file complaints against the company's actions.

The agency's main mission is to ensure the secure, reliable and efficient movement of goods and people to ensure a secure America today and in the future. The FRA achieves this by controlling safety of railroads, coordinating programs for assistance to railroads, conducting research to support the improvement of safety for railroads and national rail transportation policies as well as coordinating and assisting with the development of a rail network and assisting the private sector manage railroads. In the past, railroads were essentially monopolies with little competition. This meant that railroads often misused their position in the market. Congress established the Interstate Commerce Commission, as and other regulatory agencies, to curb the monopolies' exploitation of railroads.

Purpose

Federal railroads are government institutions that make rules, regulate funds for rail and conduct research to improve rail transportation in the United States. It supervises freight and passenger railroads and manages the nation's rail infrastructure. It is one of 10 agencies in the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also responsible for maintaining and expanding the current rail systems, ensuring the capacity of the rail industry to meet the growing travel and freight demands and providing leadership in regional and national system planning.

Safety is the government's main responsibility when it comes to rail transportation. The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for this. It has a number of divisions that supervise the country's freight and passenger rail operations. The Office of Railroad Safety is the largest of them, with around 350 inspectors. It is responsible for conducting safety inspections across six technical disciplines, including track signalling, train control as well as motive and equipment operating procedures, hazmat and highway-rail grade crosses.

FRA has various departments, including the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This department oversees programs aimed at improving freight and passenger railway transport, including the Northeast Corridor Future. This department is responsible for grants for railways and collaborates with other agencies in order to plan the nation's railway requirements.

The FRA also has a responsibility to enforce federal laws that pertain to railroads and their workers. This includes stopping railroads from discriminating against employees, and making sure that all injured railway employees are provided with transportation to the nearest hospital for initial aid treatment. It also prohibits railroads from denying or delaying medical care to injured railway workers.

The FRA is the primary regulator of the freight and passenger rail industry, but other organizations manage the economic aspects of rail transportation. The Surface Transportation Board, for example, is in charge of setting rates and governing the financial aspects of the industry. It also has the authority to regulate railroad mergers lines sales, construction and abandonment. After an open consultation period, the agency is also accountable for establishing regulations that permit anyone to file a complaint about any alleged safety issues with rail.

Functions

Railroads transport people and goods to and from cities in the developed nations, as well as remote villages in less developed countries. They transport raw materials to manufacturing and processing factories, and the finished products from these facilities to warehouses and stores. Rail is a crucial mode of transportation for a range of essential commodities including oil, grains, and coal. In 2020, freight railroads carried more than a quarter of the freight volumes in the United States [PDF(PDF).

The federal employers’ liability railroad is run just like other businesses. It has departments for marketing, operations, sale and an executive department. The marketing and sales department works with current and potential customers to determine what kind of rail services they require and how much they will cost. The operations department then develops rail services that meet these needs at the lowest price possible to earn money for railroad. The executive department is responsible for the entire operation, ensuring that every department is running smoothly.

The government offers support to railways in a variety of ways including grants, to subsidised rates for government-owned transport. Congress also provides funds to help build new stations and tracks. These subsidy funds are often added to the revenue that railroads receive through ticket sales and freight contracts.

In the United States, the government owns the passenger railway Amtrak. It is a quasi public for-profit corporation, which has the United States Government as a major stockholder.

A key function of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is developing and enforcing safety regulations for railroads. This includes regulating the mechanical state of trains and the safety and health of railroad employees. FRA also gathers and analyzes data on rail safety to identify patterns and areas that might require improvement or more regulatory attention.

In addition to these primary duties, FRA works on various other projects aimed at improving the security and economy 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 security technology that utilizes sensors and computers on board to stop a train automatically when it is too close to an vehicle or object.

History

In the 1820s-1830s the first railroads in America were built, mostly in New England and Mid-Atlantic. The railroads increased industrialization and brought more food products to the market in these regions. This helped the country to become more independent and less dependent on imports from abroad, which resulted in a solid economic base.

In the latter half of the nineteenth century the railroad industry went through a "Golden Age," during which many new trains that were more efficient were built and passenger travel via train became popular. The government's efforts to expand the railroad system were a major reason. The government, for instance, gave land grants to homesteaders in order to encourage them to settle the West. Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads also worked together to build the first transcontinental railway, which allowed travelers to travel from New York City to San Francisco within six days.

However in the early part of the 20th century, demand for railroad passenger services slowed and other modes of transport like airplanes and cars gained popularity, while regulations choked railroads' ability to compete economically. A series of bankruptcies and delays in maintenance and service cuts followed. In addition, misguided federal railway regulations led to the decline of the railroad industry.

Around the year 1970 the federal government began to ease the regulatory shackles on railroads. The Surface Transportation Board was established to oversee economic aspects of the industry such as railroad rates and mergers. The Federal Railroad Administration was also created, which sets rules for safety in rail and is one of 10 agencies of the U.S. Department of Transportation which oversees passenger and freight transportation.

Since then, the railroad infrastructure of the United States has seen a significant amount of investment. The Northeast Corridor, for example has been renovated to accommodate more efficient, faster and modern high-speed ground transportation (HSGT) trains. There have also been efforts to develop more efficient systems for freight rail. FRA hopes to continue working with all transportation agencies to ensure reliable and safe rails in the coming years. It is the job of FRA to ensure that the nation's transportation system is as efficient as it can be.