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The Federal Railroad Administration

The Federal Railroad Administration is one of the DOT's 10 agencies concerned with intermodal transportation. Its purpose is to ensure secure and efficient transportation of people and goods.

FRA field inspectors regularly check railroad track, signal and train control systems, as and operating practices. They also investigate complaints.

Definition

Federal railroads are rail transporters in the United States controlled by the federal government. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is responsible for the creation and enforcement of railway safety regulations, administers railway funding, and studies ways to improve rail transportation systems. The FRA is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's intermodal transportation division and its top executives are the Administrator as well as the Deputy Administrator.

The agency is responsible for all freight and passenger transport that uses the railway network of the United States. In addition the agency is also involved in the rehabilitation of the Northeast Corridor rail passenger service and consolidates the government's support for rail transportation. The agency also regulates the ownership and operation of intermodal facilities, such as tracks, right of way, equipment, real estate and rolling stock. It also manages federal rail transportation programs.

FRA's responsibilities also include establishing through regulation and following an opportunity to comment, a procedure by which anyone can notify the Secretary Homeland Security any railroad security problems or issues. The agency also develops guidelines, conducts inspections and reviews compliance with its rail laws in six technical disciplines, which include track signal, track, and train control; motive power and equipment; operating procedures hazardous materials and highway-rail grade intersections.

The agency is responsible of making sure that the railroad transportation system operates in a safe, economical and sustainable way. The agency also requires that railroads maintain a safe work environment and provide adequate training for their employees. The agency also sets and enforces railroad prices to ensure that the public is billed in a fair manner for transportation services.

The Federal Railroad Administration also enacts and enforces rules to stop discrimination towards railroad employees. The agency also safeguards whistleblowers from retaliation from railroad companies. The agency also sets up an avenue for railroad employees to file complaints about the company's conduct.

The agency's main mission is to ensure safe, reliable and effective transportation of people and goods for a strong America today and in the future. The FRA accomplishes this by regulating railroad safety, managing programs for assistance to railroads and conducting research that supports the improvement of safety for railroads and national rail transportation policies as well as coordinating and assisting with the development of rail networks and assisting the private sector manage railroads. In the past, railroads were huge monopolies that had no competition. The railroad industry took advantage of its dominant position in the market, resulting in. Therefore, Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission and other regulatory agencies to prevent abuses by railroad monopolies.

Purpose

Federal railroads are federal employers’ liability act 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 operates the nation's rail infrastructure. It is one of the ten agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also responsible for maintaining and expanding the current railway systems.

The government's primary responsibility in the railway industry is safety. The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for this. It has several divisions which oversee the country's freight and passenger railroad operations. The most important of these is the Office of Railroad Safety, which has approximately 350 safety inspectors and is responsible for conducting inspections to determine compliance with regulations in six technical disciplines that include track signal and train control, motive power and equipment, operating procedures, hazmat and highway-rail grade crossings.

FRA has several departments which include the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This department oversees programs aimed at improving freight and passenger rail transport, such as the Northeast Corridor Future. This department is responsible for granting grants for railways and collaborates with other agencies in order to determine the nation's rail requirements.

Another essential duty of the FRA is the enforcement of certain federal laws that pertain to railroads and their employees. This includes preventing railroads from discriminating against employees, and making sure that all railway employees injured are transported to the nearest hospital for initial aid treatment. It also prohibits railroads from refusing or delaying medical treatment to injured railway workers.

The FRA is the main regulator of the freight and passenger rail industries, however there are other organizations which manage the economic aspects of rail transport. Surface Transportation Board is responsible for establishing rates and managing the economics of the industry. It is also the regulator for railroad mergers, line-sales construction and abandonment. Other responsibilities include establishing a process through regulations, after opportunity for public input and participation, where anyone can submit complaints about rail safety violations to the agency.

Functions

Railroads transport goods and people between cities in the developed countries as and remote villages in less developed countries. They transport raw materials to processing and manufacturing plants, and finished products from those factories to warehouses and stores. Rail is a crucial mode of transportation for a variety of essential commodities including oil, grains and coal. In 2020, freight rail carried over a quarter of the nation's total freight volume [PDF].

The federal railroad is run like any other business. It has departments for marketing, operations, sales and an executive department. The department of marketing and sales collaborates with potential and current customers to determine what kind of rail services they need and how much they will cost. The operations department then develops rail services that meet these needs at the lowest price possible to generate revenue for railroads. The executive department oversees the entire operation and makes sure that each department is operating efficiently.

The government provides support to railways by a variety of methods such as grants and subsidised rates for government-owned traffic. Congress also provides money to build new tracks and stations. These subsidies are usually in addition to the earnings the railroads earn from ticket sales and freight contracts.

In the United States, the government is the owner of the railway for passengers, Amtrak. It is a quasi-public, for-profit corporation with a large stockholder that is the United States government.

A major role of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is to develop and enforce safety regulations for railroads. This involves regulating the mechanical condition of trains and the health and safety of railroad employees. FRA also analyzes and collects data on rail safety in order to identify trends and areas that need improved or increased regulatory attention.

FRA also participates in other projects to improve the economy and safety of railroad transportation in the United States. For instance, FRA is working to eliminate barriers that could delay railroads in implementing positive train control (PTC). PTC is a security technology that uses sensors and computers on board to stop a train automatically when it is too close to an object or vehicle.

History

The nation's first railroads were built in the 1820s and 1830s mostly in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. The railroads increased industrialization and brought more food items to the market in these regions. This helped the country to become more independent and less dependent on foreign imports, which helped to foster a strong economic base.

In the late 19th century the railroad industry enjoyed the benefits of a "Golden Age" during which new, more efficient rail lines were built and passenger transportation became popular. This was in large part due to the government's efforts to expand the railroad system. The government, for example provided homesteaders land grants to encourage them to settle the West. Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads also partnered to construct the first transcontinental railway, which allowed travelers to travel from New York City to San Francisco within six days.

However in the first half of the 20th century, the demand for passenger railroad services declined and other modes of transportation such as airplanes and cars gained popularity, while stifling regulations hampered railroads competitiveness economically. The industry was plagued by a succession of bankruptcies service cuts, bankruptcy, and deferred maintenance. Uninformed federal rail regulations also contributed to the decline.

In the year 1970 the federal government began to ease the regulatory burdens on railroads. The Surface Transportation Board was established to oversee economic aspects of the industry, such as mergers and railroad rates. The Federal Railroad Administration, which oversees passenger and freight transportation and sets rail safety standards, was also created.

Since then, a great amount of investment has been made in the country's railway infrastructure. The Northeast Corridor, for example was rebuilt 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. In the future, FRA hopes to continue its collaboration with all transportation agencies in order to ensure safe and reliable railroads. The role of FRA is to ensure that the nation's transport system is running as efficiently as possible.